<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Smog in New Delhi hit "hazardous" levels on Thursday as smoke from thousands of crop fires in northern India combined with other pollutants to create a noxious grey cocktail enveloping the&nbsp; megacity.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Levels of the most dangerous particles -- PM2.5, so tiny they can enter the&nbsp; bloodstream -- were 588 per cubic metre early on Thursday morning, according&nbsp; to monitoring firm IQAir.</div><div><br></div><div>That is almost 40 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health&nbsp; Organization. IQAir rated overall pollution levels as "hazardous".</div><div><br></div><div>"This is really the worst time to be out in Delhi. One never wakes up fresh&nbsp; with this pollution," policeman Hem Raj, 42, told AFP.</div><div><br></div><div>"The body feels tired and lethargic in the mornings... The eyes are always&nbsp; watery and throat scratchy after spending hours on the Delhi roads," he said.</div><div><br></div><div>Every winter, cooler air, smoke from farmers burning stubble, and emissions&nbsp; from vehicles and other sources combine to create a deadly smog reducing visibility in the city of 20 million people.</div><div><br></div><div>In 2020 a Lancet study attributed 1.67 million deaths to air pollution in&nbsp; India in 2019, including almost 17,500 in the capital. - AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>