Indian traffic policeman Surendar Singh waved away clouds of dust and smoke and unbuttoned his shirt to show a small box bulging out of his chest.

¡°It literally keeps me alive,¡± said Singh, 48, as he showed the implanted cardiac defibrillator device that detects when his heart rhythm goes dangerously awry and delivers a shock to restore it to normal.

¡°It¡¯s the price you pay for working in this madness,¡± he said, gesturing to a clogged intersection in the northern city of Bhiwadi, found to be the most polluted in the world.