The serious air quality issue plaguing Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) was once again made public in November 2025. According to new data released on December 6 by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Ghaziabad ranked as India’s most polluted city in November, recording a monthly average PM_2.5 concentration of 224 µg/m³—over three times India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) daily limit. The city violated the NAAQS every day of November, with 19 “Very Poor” days, 10 “Severe” days, and only 1 “Poor” day. Noida, Bahadurgarh, Delhi, Hapur, and Greater Noida were among the other NCR cities that made the top 10, underscoring the region’s deteriorating air quality despite a decrease in the impact of stubble-burning.

The results present a dire picture: local, year-round pollution sources continue to dominate the air quality crisis across India’s most urbanized belt, despite government initiatives and improved crop-residue management.

Why Did Ghaziabad Become the Most Polluted City in India in November 2025?

The CREA assessment makes it clear that Ghaziabad is India’s most polluted city in November due to several interlinked reasons.

• Persistent local emissions: These include garbage burning, industrial pollution, excessive traffic, and road dust.
• Geographical disadvantage: Due to winter inversion, pollutants are easily trapped on the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• Inadequate winter readiness: Improvements in air quality are hampered by enforcement gaps notwithstanding graded action plans.

Although stubble burning has always contributed to pollution in the NCR, its impact was much less in 2025, just 7% as opposed to 20% in November of the previous year. However, because the majority of pollutants come from local sources like cars, thermal power plants, diesel generators, and industrial clusters, the decrease did not result in cleaner air.

Even Delhi, which came in at number four with 215 µg/m³ PM_2.5, saw pollution levels almost quadruple from 107 µg/m³ in October. This demonstrates that winter pollution in the NCR will remain severe in the absence of strict sector-specific measures.

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How Did Other Cities in NCR and India Perform?

The information shows that the situation is not limited to Ghaziabad. Many other cities trailed closely behind Ghaziabad, which was named India’s most polluted city in November:

• Monthly averages in Noida, Bahadurgarh, Hapur, Greater Noida, and Sonipat were higher than the previous year’s.
• With six cities on the list, Uttar Pradesh dominated the top ten.
• Despite receiving significant policy attention, Delhi ranked fourth and remains among the poorest.
• The only city in the top ten with at least one day below NAAQS was Bahadurgarh.

Pollution persisted in many states outside of the NCR:

• 23 out of 34 cities in Rajasthan surpassed the NAAQS.
• 22 out of 25 districts in Haryana exceed NAAQS.
• 14 out of 20 districts in Uttar Pradesh exceed NAAQS.
• Madhya Pradesh: 9 of 12 exceeded the limit.
• Nine out of 14 in Odisha exceed NAAQS.
• Seven of the eight cities in Punjab are above the limit.

On the other hand, at 7 µg/m³, Shillong in Meghalaya was found to be the cleanest city, followed by several places in Karnataka and the Northeast.

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What Does the Shift in Air Quality Categories Reveal?

According to the CREA report, from October to November, there was a significant change in Indian cities toward more polluting classifications. As Ghaziabad ranked India’s most polluted city in November, the overall national picture showed:

• The number of “good” cities fell from 68 to just 26.
• “Satisfactory” cities decreased from 144 to 115.
• “Moderate” cities increased from 27 to 73.
• The number of “poor” cities rose from 9 to 19.
• “Very Poor” cities increased from 1 to 22.

Pollutants are trapped close to ground level by lower temperatures, low wind speeds, and temperature inversions, highlighting the importance of seasonal meteorology. However, it also confirms that the fundamental issue remains structural: year-round emissions.

According to the research, all 99 NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) cities exceeded the WHO daily PM_2.5 limit of 15 µg/m³, and nearly half exceeded India’s daily NAAQS of 60 µg/m³.

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What Actions Are Needed to Reverse the Pollution Trend?

As Ghaziabad ranked India’s most polluted city in November, the findings point to an urgent need for multi-sectoral measures.

• Transport reforms: Transportation improvements include increased electric mobility, stricter enforcement of automobile emission regulations, and congestion pricing.
• Industrial controls: Include tough fines for non-compliance and a quicker implementation of continuous emissions monitoring (CEMS).
• Power sector transition: Increasing the integration of renewable energy sources to lessen dependency on coal.
• Waste and biomass management: Using cleaner cooking methods and decentralized waste processing to end open burning.
• Urban planning: Improved construction site regulations, more green buffers, and dust control measures.

Regardless of variations in stubble burning, CREA scientists warn that NCR cities would continue to violate air quality requirements year after year in the absence of focused emission reductions.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What does it mean that “Ghaziabad Ranked India’s Most Polluted City in November”?

It draws attention to the seriousness of the NCR’s annual winter pollution problem and stresses the need for more robust, year-round emission-control measures.

Q2. Despite less stubble burning, why was pollution still so bad?

The primary sources of pollution, transportation, industry, thermal power plants, dust, and waste burning, remain largely unchecked and affect air quality during the winter.

Q3. In November 2025, which cities did the best?

Cities from Karnataka, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, all of which kept PM2.5 levels well within NAAQS, followed Shillong at the top of the clean list.

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