Delhi, home to more than 32 million people, has long been ranked the world’s most polluted capital city – for years, experts have called it a “gas chamber”.

And while pollution is a year-round struggle here, the crisis peaks every October and November, turning what was once a season of sunny picnics into months of suffocating smog.

In the past, winter was eagerly awaited by Delhi residents, who could step out of their homes and enjoy a warm, sunny day in public parks, with a cool breeze blowing.

But now a foul concoction of smoke from farm residue and firecrackers and emissions from industry and vehicles smothers the city when winter arrives.

In this special episode of the Recorded podcast, host Taniya Dutta reports from the heart of the crisis in New Delhi. She looks at the reasons for Delhi's annual pollution peak with experts, asks if the Indian capital is on the verge of becoming an uninhabitable place and considers what the government can do to clean the city's air – before it's too late.