New Delhi – Around 15 million people in India were affected due to wildfires in 2024-25, with Uttar Pradesh being the most impacted region, a global study has estimated.

Uttar Pradesh was also found to have experienced its most severe wildfire season on record, which researchers said was driven by crop burning, heatwaves and dry fuel accumulation.

Regional fires contributed to severe haze episodes in New Delhi in November 2024, with PM2.5 levels reaching 13 times the daily standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO) — more than 200 micrograms per cubic metre, findings published as the yearly ‘State of Wildfires’ report in the journal Earth System Science Data show.

India is among the worst affected countries, with 15 million in the Democratic Republic of Congo and five million

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