India’s most polluted city isn’t Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Patna, Gurugram or Lucknow, To your astonishment, the name will stun you

In a good number of places, pollution is fast becoming an environmental concern. The city of Delhi, for example, was restrained by a cold wave coupled with worsening weather conditions. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the temperature of Delhi was around 6.4 degree Celsius at around 530 am on Thursday. The temperature forecast for today provided by the MeT Department suggests a minimum of around 5 degrees Celsius while a maximum of around 21 degrees Celsius can be expected. Can you tell which cities have the worst air pollution?

Research conducted by RESPIRE LIVING SCIENCES, provides a thorough analysis on the reduction of air pollution in Indian cities focusing on the timeline of 2019-2024, and attributes this success to the NCAP (National Clean Air Programme). Various urban centers participated in the initiative aimed at improving air quality in a number of ways, which has led to successes, but there are still unresolved issues.

As per the report of Respire Living Sciences, ‘Towards Clear Skies 2025 An In-Depth Analysis of Air Quality Improvements in Indian Cities (2019-2024),’ the Indian cities metropolitan regions continue to grapple with air pollution in the year 2024, the PM2.5 density is considerably high for many areas and solidifies the fact that the situation is dire. 

Automobiles emissions, industrialization and the lack of law enforcement laws have been taking a root in the central, northern and eastern regions of india which are among the major causes of why these rising urban areas have been ranked in the top 10, and by overcoming these issues these regions can drastically begin to clean their air. 

In 2024, Gurugram reported 96.7 angstroms per cubic meter while faridabad reported recording 87.1 angstroms per cubic meter and Sri Ganganagar measuring at 85.5 micrograms per cubic meter, and Greater Noida with 83.9 micrograms per cubic meter. Further Byrnihat in Assam estimated at 127.3 micrograms per cubic meter alongside Delhi estimating at 107 micrograms per cubic meter. 

Alongside Ghaziabad which reported measuring 79.9 micrograms per cubic meter, Asansol reported measuring upto 80.3 micrograms per cubic meter, Durgapur with 82.0 micrograms per cubic meter alongside Muzaffarnagar which estimated measuring 83.2 micrograms per cubic meter.

Top 10 Cities with Worst Pollution in 2024

PM2.5 (µg/m³) in the year 2024

Rank 1: Byrnihat, Assam (127.3)

Rank 2: Delhi, Delhi (107.0)

Rank 3: Gurugram, Haryana (96.7)

Rank 4: Faridabad, Haryana (87.1)

Rank 5: Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan (85.5)

Rank 6: Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh (83.9)

Rank 7: Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh (83.2)

Rank 8: Durgapur, West Bengal (82.0)

Rank 9: Asansol, West Bengal (80.3)

Rank 10: Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh (79.9)

Each such city has to be encouraged to develop certain policies to combat the say pollution and such ranking has been vital for environmentalists when it comes to them tackling air pollution through political means, it assists in rationalizing them to bring necessary change. ‘Secured emissions control limits, effective planning of industrial zones, well developed and maintained public transport systems and robust network in place of air quality management are essential for the cities to meet air quality requirements,; so the report states.