Ghaziabad recorded the worst air quality in India in November, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 224 micrograms per cubic metre, far above the national standards on all 30 days, according to a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Other cities in the National Capital Region dominated the list of the 10 most polluted urban centres. Noida, Bahadurgarh, Delhi, Hapur, Greater Noida, Baghpat, Sonipat, Meerut and Rohtak joined Ghaziabad in the top bracket.
Uttar Pradesh accounted for six cities on the list, followed by Haryana with three and Delhi itself.
Except for Delhi, all cities in the top 10 logged higher PM2.5 levels than last year. Delhi ranked fourth, with a monthly average of 215 micrograms per cubic metre— nearly double its October average of 107 — and saw 23 very poor days, six severe days and one poor day.
CREA noted that the influence of stubble burning was lower this year, contributing just 7 per cent to Delhi’s pollution in November, compared with 20 per cent last year. The peak contribution this season reached 22 per cent, down from 38 per cent.
Except for Bahadurgarh, none of the top 10 cities recorded even a single day within the safe daily limit. Several other cities — Charkhi Dadri, Bulandshahr, Jind, Muzaffarnagar, Gurgaon, Khurja, Bhiwani, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Faridabad — also reported PM2.5 levels above the national standard every day.
"Despite a significant reduction in stubble-burning influence, 20 out of 29 NCR cities recorded higher pollution levels than the previous year and many still did not register a single day within NAAQS limits. This clearly indicates that the dominant drivers are year-round sources such as transport, industry, power plants and other combustion sources. Without sector-specific emission cuts, cities will continue to breach standards," said Manoj Kumar, Analyst at CREA.
At the state level, Rajasthan had the highest number of polluted cities, with 23 of 34 exceeding the national limit in November.
Haryana had 22 of 25 such cities, and Uttar Pradesh had 14 of 20 above the standard. High levels were also reported in 9 of 12 cities in Madhya Pradesh, 9 of 14 in Odisha and 7 of 8 in Punjab.
Shillong in Meghalaya was the cleanest city, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 7 microgram per cubic metre.
The top 10 cleanest cities included six from Karnataka and one each from Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
