New Delhi (Associated Press)-The sky is obscured by thick gray smoke. The monuments and high-rise buildings are shrouded in mist. People have trouble breathing.

In the Indian capital, it's that time of year again.

According to SAFAR, India’s main environmental monitoring agency, the city’s air quality index fell into the “very poor” category on Sunday, with deadly particulate matter levels in many areas reaching about six times the global safety threshold.

NASA satellite images also show that most of the northern plains of India are shrouded in dense fog.

Among the many breathless Indian cities, New Delhi tops the list every year. Especially in winter, when neighboring countries burn crop residues, cool temperatures will catch deadly smoke, and this crisis will become more serious. The smog reached New Delhi, causing a surge in pollution in this city of 20 million people and exacerbating an already existing public health crisis.

The New Delhi government on Saturday ordered the closure of schools and construction sites for four days starting from Monday. The government office was also told to work from home for a week to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

Arvind Kejriwal, the most elected leader of the capital, said that the city may be completely sealed off, but a decision will be made after consultation with the federal government.

India’s pollution problem is not limited to the capital.

Emissions from industries without pollution control technology and the coal that helps produce most of the country's electricity are related to poor air quality in other urban areas.

It is expected that in the coming decades, India’s energy demand will grow faster than any other country. Part of the demand is expected to be met by dirty coal power, which is the main source of carbon emissions that pollute the air.

This is why India called for last-minute amendments to the final agreement in the key climate negotiations held in Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday, calling for "phasing out" rather than "phasing out" coal power.

India's Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav opposed the phasing out of coal, saying that developing countries "have the right to use fossil fuels responsibly."

Many experts criticized this move. They worry that this weakens the final agreement and may also hinder India’s fight against climate change and deteriorating air quality.

"This is simply not desirable," said Samrat Sengupta, director of the Climate Change and Energy Program at the Think Tank of the Center for Science and Environment. But he also said that India needs enough "carbon space" in the atmosphere to meet its development needs to coexist with the global ambition of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since the pre-industrial era.

"At present, it is technically impossible to phase out coal. There is no scenario that can predict that India's dependence on coal will be zero by 2050," Sengupta said.

Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Narendra Modi) announced that the country’s goal is to stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2070—20 years later than the United States and at least 10 years later than China.

India’s coal reserves contain a large amount of ash, and the combustion efficiency is low, leading to increased air pollution. But millions of Indians depend on coal for their livelihoods.

"In our country, this is the only way for many people to earn a living. If foreign countries say we should stop using coal, what do we eat," said coal trader Hariram.

Associated Press video reporter Shonal Ganguly contributed to this report.