The dust was impossible to escape. It rose with every passing truck, hung over the narrow roads and settled on everything around us. By the time we left Loni, our clothes were covered in black soot. We could feel the dust particles in our mouths. We had spent just a few hours reporting from this town in Ghaziabad. For the people who live here, this is what everyday life looks like. NDTV Lifeline's team had travelled to Loni a day after Diwali, when it was categorised among the world's most polluted cities, to understand what was making its air so toxic. What we found was an air pollution crisis that went far beyond firecrackers. Industrial emissions, brick kilns, diesel vehicles, garbage discharge and dust from broken roads have created an environment where residents say even breathing has become a struggle.
