At a Glance

One of the main causes of smog in India is farmers burning crop stubble in preparation for the new planting season.Political squabbling over who would pay for alternatives made the situation worse, officials say.

Officials in India say they knew how to keep smog levels from reaching 12 times the recommended limit in northern states, including capital New Delhi, but political squabbling kept it from happening this year.

The that plagues New Delhi and other areas in northern India each year stems in large part from farmers burning cropstubble in preparation for the new planting season, which begins in November.

"Nothing more is likely to happen this year," one of them told Reuters. "We're now praying. Only God can save us."

It would cost an estimated $600 million to give farmers alternatives, but squabblesbetween the Bharatiya Janata Party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, other New Delhi political powers and local Punjab states over who will pay for it prevented any action, according to three federal government officials.

In an attempt to curb the pollution, officials temporarily banned the use ofdiesel-run power generators, construction and the burning of garbage. They even tried using fire engines to spray water over parts of the capital in hopes it might settle the dust.

"We've tried our best to tackle the situation, but as policymakers, we've failed to address the main problem of stubble burning," the government official said.

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For the third year in a row, very high levels of smog in New Delhi forced officials to close schools and sentresidents scurrying to purchase masks and air purifiers. The situation became so dire this year that one."

The levels of the dangerous air particle PM 2.5, the New York Times reported, citing United States Embassy data. It is equivalent to smoking more than two packs of cigarettes per day, the report added.

This year was particularly dire because little wind allowed the smog to remain stationary and build up over the course of many days.