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TO GO WITH: India-environment-pollution-health,FOCUS by Annie Banerji An Indian sweeper cleans a flyover as smog covers the capital's skyline the morning after celebrations for the Diwali festival in New Delhi on October 24, 2014. Thick smoke hung over New Delhi as millions of Indians lit firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival, but calls for a boycott highlighted growing concerns over air quality in one of the world's most polluted cities. Pollution in the Indian capital reached "severe" levels on October 24, the day after Diwali, according to a new air quality index launched as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Clean India" mission. That means the concentration of airborne particles known as PM2.5, which are considered the most harmful, was more than 250 -- 10 times the upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)

TO GO WITH: India-environment-pollution-health,FOCUS by Annie Banerji An Indian sweeper cleans a flyover as smog covers the capital's skyline the morning after celebrations for the Diwali festival in New Delhi on October 24, 2014. Thick smoke hung over New Delhi as millions of Indians lit firecrackers to mark the Diwali festival, but calls for a boycott highlighted growing concerns over air quality in one of the world's most polluted cities. Pollution in the Indian capital reached "severe" levels on October 24, the day after Diwali, according to a new air quality index launched as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Clean India" mission. That means the concentration of airborne particles known as PM2.5, which are considered the most harmful, was more than 250 -- 10 times the upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)
Getty Images

AFP PRAKASH SINGH