New York Times: Holding Your Breath in India
Gardiner Harris, Washington correspondent for the New York Times

“…When I became a South Asia correspondent for the New York Times three years ago, my wife and I were both excited and prepared for difficulties — insistent beggars, endemic dengue, and summertime temperatures that reach 120 degrees. But we had little inkling just how dangerous this city would be for our boys. We gradually learned that Delhi’s true menace came from its air, water, food, and flies. These perils sicken, disable, and kill millions in India annually, making for one of the worst public health disasters in the world. Delhi, we discovered, is quietly suffering from a dire pediatric respiratory crisis, with a recent study showing that nearly half of the city’s 4.4 million schoolchildren have irreversible lung damage from the poisonous air…” (5/29).