Toxic air divides Delhi between poverty and privilege

Rizwan (centre) pedals a tricycle rickshaw as he looks for customers amid dense smog, along a street in the old quarters of New Delhi. Environmental change hits the poorest the hardest, experts say, and in India's toxic smog-filled capital that extends even to the air people breathe. - Photo by Arun SANKAR / AFP

NEW DELHI (AFP): Environmental change hits the poorest the hardest, experts say, and in India's toxic smog-filled capital that includes the air people breathe.

In Old Delhi, the ancient heart of the capital, 39-year-old Rizwan pedals a rickshaw tricycle, transporting passengers and heavy goods through crowded streets often too narrow for cars, earning about seven dollars on a good day.