India's government banned non-essential construction in New Delhi, the world's most polluted capital, and urged residents to avoid burning coal for heating, to combat worsening air quality that has disrupted flights and obscured the Taj Mahal.

A sharp spike in Delhi's air pollution was witnessed in the past 24 hours with 30 out of 36 monitoring stations reporting a severe air quality index.

Toxic smog in India and Pakistan has caused air quality in the major metropolitans of Lahore, Multan, Delhi and Chandigarh to deteriorate to toxic levels.

Toxic smog shrouded India's iconic Taj Mahal in Agra on Thursday (November 14), rendering it barely visible from the surrounding gardens of the 17th-century monument. The dense haze also enveloped the Golden Temple,

By Sakshi Dayal NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Toxic smog obscured India's famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and delayed flights on Thursday,