6 UP cities in India’s top 10 polluted in November; Ghaziabad tops the list: Report

Ghaziabad recorded the highest pollution levels in India in November, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 224 microgram per cubic metre and air quality staying above national standards on all 30 days, a new analysis has found.

Noida, Bahadurgarh, Delhi, Hapur, Greater Noida, Baghpat, Sonipat, Meerut and Rohtak were also among the 10 most polluted cities, according to the report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Uttar Pradesh accounted for six of these cities, followed by three in Haryana and Delhi.

Except Delhi, all other cities in the top 10 registered higher PM2.5 levels than last year.

Delhi ranked the fourth most polluted city, with a monthly average PM2.5 concentration of 215 microgram per cubic metre in November—almost double its October average of 107. The city saw 23 very poor days, six severe days and one poor day.

The contribution of stubble burning was lower this year, averaging 7 per cent of Delhi’s pollution in November, compared to 20 per cent last year. The peak contribution of stubble fires reached 22 per cent, significantly lower than the 38 per cent recorded last year, CREA said.

Except Bahadurgarh, none of the top 10 cities saw even one day within the national safe daily limit. Other cities such as Charkhi Dadri, Bulandshahr, Jind, Muzaffarnagar, Gurgaon, Khurja, Bhiwani, Karnal, Yamunanagar and Faridabad also reported PM2.5 levels above the limit every day in November.

“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 recorded 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.