Photos: India’s Polluted Skies

Amarjeet Kumar Singh / Anadolu / Getty

Silhouettes of people and monkeys make their way past India Gate amid smoggy conditions in New Delhi, India, on October 22, 2025. Thick smog blanketed the city, with Delhi’s air-quality index dropping to 345, placing it in the “very poor” category.

Bhawika Chhabra / Reuters

A farmer burns stubble in a field in the northern state of Punjab, India, on November 13, 2025.

A motorcycle travels down a wide boulevard beneath trees on a very smoggy morning.

Vipin Kumar / Hindustan Times / Getty

Smog fills the air in the early hours of the morning at Shanti Path in New Delhi, on November 16, 2025. The national capital continues to reel under a dense blanket of smog, with air quality plunging to “severe” levels.

A device mounted to the top of a truck sprays a mist of water in the air as it drives down a road.

Sonu Mehta / Hindustan Times / Getty

An anti-smog gun sprays water to settle down dust along Kartavya Path on November 8, 2025, in New Delhi.

A view of a train passing over a bridge and distant tall buildings on a very smoggy day

Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times / Getty

A view of a morning haze due to rising air-pollution levels, seen in Noida, India, on November 15, 2025

Fire and smoke rise above a burning farm field.

Bhawika Chhabra / Reuters

Burning stubble sends smoke and other particulates into the air in Mansa, in the northern state of Punjab, on November 12, 2025.

A young person swings a cricket bat in a lot with several cows visible in the background, under smoggy skies.

Anushree Fadnavis / Reuters

A boy plays cricket near the banks of Yamuna river, on a smoggy morning in New Delhi on November 13, 2025.

A view of a historic temple and its grounds in smoggy air

Ritesh Shukla / Getty

A view of Akshardham Temple amid heavy pollution, seen in New Delhi on October 29, 2025.

Protesters gather in a public plaza, with one holding a sign that reads 'I miss breathing.'

Manish Swarup / AP

A person holds a sign during a protest against what demonstrators called the government’s lack of action to combat air pollution in New Delhi, on November 9, 2025.