Dozens of protesters rallied in New Delhi on Sunday to demand government action on toxic air, as a thick haze containing dangerous microparticles shrouded the Indian capital.

Parents in the crowd brought their children, who wore masks and waved placards, with one reading: "I miss breathing".

New Delhi with its sprawling metropolitan region of 30 million residents is regularly ranked among the world's most polluted capitals.

Acrid smog blankets the skyline each winter, when cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground, creating a deadly mix of emissions from crop burning, factories and heavy traffic.

Levels of PM2.5 -- cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream -- sometimes rise to as much as 60 times the UN's daily health limits.

"Today I am here just as a

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