India’s air quality deteriorated sharply in October 2025, with the Indo-Gangetic Plain, particularly the National Capital Region (NCR), emerging as the most polluted zone in the country. Dharuhera in Haryana topped the list with a PM2.5 monthly average of 123 µg/m³, breaching the national safe limit on 77% of monitored days and recording nine ‘Very Poor’ and two ‘Severe’ air quality days, according to the Finland-based non-profit Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Delhi, ranked sixth , saw its PM2.5 levels triple from 36 µg/m³ in September to 107 µg/m³ in October, despite stubble burning contributing less than 6% to its pollution load.

“Winter and festive periods don’t create India’s pollution problem, they expose it. These seasonal spikes merely amplify baseline poll

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