Red light? Then turn engine off, Delhi urges motorists amid heavy pollution

FILE PHOTO: Vehicles drive through smog in Gurugram, India, November 9, 2020. REUTERS/ Anushree Fadnavis/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Choking back exhaust fumes, 22-year-old Rihana Saif stands at a traffic signal in India's capital New Delhi, holding a sign mounted on a bamboo stick imploring motorists to turn their engines off.

The city has been facing one of its worst spells of air pollution in years, caused by a combination of traffic, factories, construction dust and the widespread burning of agricultural waste in neighbouring states.