Thick smog continued to shroud the New Delhi skyline Friday as pollution levels had a marginal dip as compared to Thursday. Source: AP

India’s government banned non-essential construction in New Delhi, the world’s most polluted capital, and urged residents to avoid burning coal for heating, to combat worsening air quality that has disrupted flights and obscured the Taj Mahal.

India's government banned non-essential construction in New Delhi, the world's most polluted capital, and urged residents to avoid burning coal for heating, to combat worsening air quality that has disrupted flights and obscured the Taj Mahal.

Residents of India's capital New Delhi choked in a blanketing toxic smog Wednesday as worsening air pollution surged past 50 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Toxic smog obscured India's famed monument to love, the Taj Mahal, as well as Sikhism's holiest shrine, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, becoming too

To combat worsening air quality, India's government has banned non-essential construction and encouraged residents to avoid burning coal for heating.

A dense smog blanketed the Taj Mahal in Agra on Thursday as pollution levels surged, obscuring the iconic monument from view. Tourists captured visuals showing the Taj Mahal nearly invisible behind the haze.

Toxic smog blanketed northern India on Thursday, becoming too thick to see through in several places, as high levels of pollution combined with humidity, low wind speed, and a drop in temperature, officials said.