GURGAON: Four NCR cities dominated India's pollution rankings through Jan, as fine particulate matter (PM2.5) hovered in the 'very poor' to 'severe' range on most days, leaving residents breathing air close to 10 times dirtier than the World Health Organisation's safer limit.
A monthly analysis report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found Ghaziabad, Delhi, Noida and Gurgaon among the country's most polluted cities for the month, underlining how winter smog remained stubborn across the NCR region.
Gurgaon ranked fourth nationally. Here, PM2.5 stayed 'very poor' to 'severe' on 25 of 31 days, with a monthly mean concentration of 163 g/m³.
It is nearly three times India's daily National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 60 g/m³ and about 10 times the WHO guideline of 15 g/m³.
Daily data showed three 'severe' days and 22 'very poor' days, alongside four 'poor' days and only two 'moderate' days. There were no 'satisfactory' or 'good' air days at all in January.
Ghaziabad was the most polluted city in the country, recording a monthly PM2.5 average of 184 g/m³, followed by Delhi at 169 g/m³.
The persistence of high pollution was stark - Ghaziabad appeared in the daily top 10 most polluted cities list on 28 days, Delhi on 27 days, Gurgaon on 25 days and Noida appeared on 24 days.
Ghaziabad was the most polluted city in the country, recording a monthly PM2.5 average of 184 g/m³, followed by Delhi at 169 g/m³.
Within Haryana, Gurgaon was the most polluted monitored location, followed by Dharuhera (150 g/m³), Narnaul (126 g/m³), Charkhi Dadri (121 g/m³) and Manesar (112 g/m³).
Other districts also recorded high monthly averages, including Faridabad (98 g/m³), Panipat (93 g/m³), Bhiwani (88 g/m³), Bahadurgarh (85 g/m³), Jind (82 g/m³), Karnal (79 g/m³), Kurukshetra (78 g/m³), Rohtak (76 g/m³), Yamunanagar (75 g/m³) and Panchkula (75 g/m³).
Even lower on the state's list, several locations breached national standards, including Sonipat (70 g/m³), Mandikhera (69 g/m³), Kaithal (65 g/m³) and Sirsa (56 g/m³).
Overall, 19 of Haryana's 25 monitored locations exceeded the national limit in Jan.
Across India, CREA said 53 cities featured on the daily top 10 most polluted list at least once during the month, signalling that winter pollution was not confined to NCR.
Among metros, Delhi and Kolkata exceeded national limits, while Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru stayed below the standard. Damoh in MP was the cleanest city in Jan, with a monthly PM2.5 average of 17 g/m³.
Manoj Kumar, India Analyst at CREA, said the upcoming revision of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) should be used to tighten India's air quality strategy.
"This revision must focus on prioritising PM2.5 and its precursor gases (SO2 and NO2) over PM10, revising the list of non-attainment cities, setting stricter emission standards for industries and power plants, and adopting an airshed-based approach to address air pollution at a regional scale," Kumar added.
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