New Delhi banned all construction, barred lorries from entering the city and announced stringent restrictions on private-car use on Thursday, AFP said. The Indian capital is seeking to combat a massive spike in pollution across large swathes of India and Pakistan. Tens of thousands of schools in Delhi and surrounding states remained closed as a hazardous fog of toxic pollution cloaked the region for a third day. “The situation in Delhi is so bad, and if the pollution can be brought down in any way, we will do it,” the city’s Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said, as he announced plans to limit private-car use to alternate days from next Monday.