NEW DELHI: The Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) has emerged as the most polluted region in India, with all of the country’s top 10 most polluted cities in October being located here, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Delhi ranked as the most polluted city, recording an average PM2.5 concentration of 111 micrograms per cubic metre, followed closely by Ghaziabad at 110 µg/m³ and Muzaffarnagar at 103 µg/m³.
CREA’s analysis, which monitored pollution data from 263 cities with continuous air quality monitoring stations, showed that the top 10 most polluted cities in India were all in NCR. Apart from Delhi, the cities in this list include Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Hapur, Noida, Meerut, Charkhi Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, and Bahadurgarh. These cities consistently recorded PM2.5 levels significantly higher than both the national ambient air quality standard of 60 µg/m³ and the World Health Organization’s daily safe limit of 15 µg/m³.
Despite the ongoing implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) since October 15, pollution levels remained critically high across these cities. The report also highlighted that, unlike NCR, major urban centres like Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru successfully kept their PM2.5 concentrations below the national standard during the same period.
For the first time this year, Uttar Pradesh emerged as the state with the highest number of polluted cities, contributing six of the top 10, while Haryana had three cities on the list. The persistently poor air quality in these regions raises concerns about the effectiveness of current pollution control measures.
