New Delhi closes coal-fired power plant as smog worsens during annual Diwali festival

India’s environmental watchdog shut down a coal-fired power plant and banned the use of diesel generators in New Delhi as air quality plummeted in the world’s most polluted capital on Wednesday, the start of the Diwali festival.
New Delhi experiences suffocating smog every year around Diwali, when farmers in north India burn the stubble left behind after the harvest and revellers let off firecrackers. The onset of winter aggravates the problem as the cooler air traps the pollutants…