Pollution nearly doubles in November: CREA

Delhi’s air pollution nearly doubled in November, pushing the national Capital to the fourth spot among the most polluted cities in the country.

A report released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) on Saturday highlighted that while the impact of stubble burning on Delhi’s air quality was significantly lower compared to last year, pollution levels in the city remained severe. Delhi ranked as the fourth most polluted city in the country in November, recording a monthly average PM2.5 level of 215 micrograms per cubic metre — nearly double its October average of 107 micrograms per cubic metre.

The national Capital witnessed 23 ‘very poor’ days, six ‘severe’ days and one ‘poor’ day during the month. Despite the deteriorating air quality, the contribution of stubble burning averaged only 7 per cent in November, compared to 20 per cent last year.

Peak stubble-burning contribution touched 22 per cent, significantly lower than the 38 per cent recorded in November 2024, the report said.

Meanwhile, air quality across India deteriorated sharply in November, with nine of the country’s ten most polluted cities recording higher pollution levels than the previous year, according to the analysis.

The report revealed that all but one of the top ten polluted cities failed to record even a single day within the safe daily National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) limit throughout the entire month.

Ghaziabad emerged as the most polluted city in India, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 224 micrograms per cubic metre, breaching the NAAQS on every single day in November. The city recorded 19 ‘very poor’ days, 10 ‘severe’ days and one ‘poor’ day. Noida, Bahadurgarh, Delhi, Hapur, Greater Noida, Baghpat, Sonipat, Meerut and Rohtak also featured among the ten most polluted cities.

Uttar Pradesh accounted for six of these cities, followed by Haryana with three and Delhi with one. Except for Bahadurgarh, none of the top ten cities recorded even a single day within the safe NAAQS threshold.

Several other NCR cities, including Charkhi Dadri, Bulandshahr, Jind, Muzaffarnagar, Gurgaon, Khurja, Bhiwani, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Faridabad, also remained above safe pollution levels throughout the month.

“Despite a significant reduction in stubble-burning influence, 20 out of 29 NCR cities recorded higher pollution levels than the previous year. 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 recorded the highest number of polluted cities, with 23 out of 34 exceeding the NAAQS in November.

Haryana followed with 22 out of 25 cities breaching safe limits, while Uttar Pradesh had 14 out of 20 cities above the standard. High pollution levels were also recorded across Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab.

In contrast, Shillong in Meghalaya emerged as the cleanest city in India in November, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of just 7 micrograms per cubic metre. The list of the ten cleanest cities included six from Karnataka, and one each from Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Out of 255 cities with sufficient monitoring data, only 114 complied with India’s NAAQS of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.

Compliance with the World Health Organisation’s daily safe guideline of 15 micrograms per cubic metre remained extremely low, with just two cities meeting the benchmark, the report noted.