India witnessed alarming air pollution levels in the aftermath of Diwali celebrations, with 93 Indian cities featuring among the world's 100 most polluted locations on November 9. According to data published by AQI.in, several cities across North India recorded extremely high Air Quality Index (AQI) readings, with Punjab and Rajasthan occupying the top positions in the global ranking.
The rankings, updated at 10:05 AM on November 9, showed Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar as the world's most polluted city, with an AQI of 868. Punjab's Faridkot followed closely in second place with an AQI of 842, while Bathinda secured the third position with a reading of 797. All three cities fell under the hazardous pollution category.
The figures came a day after Diwali celebrations on November 8, when firecrackers were burst across several parts of the country. The high readings highlighted the serious air quality situation in several Indian cities.
Punjab featured prominently in the global pollution rankings, with Faridkot and Bathinda occupying the second and third positions, respectively. Amritsar also recorded an alarming AQI of 451, placing eighth globally. Other Punjab locations featuring among the highly polluted cities included Patiala.
Neighbouring Haryana also reported extremely poor air quality. Sirsa ranked fourth worldwide with an AQI of 612, while Bhiwani occupied the fifth position with 548. Hisar recorded an AQI of 485, while Rohtak also featured among the heavily polluted locations.
The presence of multiple cities from Punjab and Haryana in the top rankings indicated that the pollution problem extended well beyond the national capital.
The national capital, New Delhi, ranked 15th globally with an AQI of 380. The reading placed it in the hazardous category according to the classification used in the published rankings.
Several cities in Uttar Pradesh also recorded high pollution levels. Budaun stood at sixth position with an AQI of 489, while Prayagraj completed the global top 10 with a reading of 440.
Lucknow ranked 20th with an AQI of 344, followed by Kanpur at 22nd with 337. Ghaziabad recorded 331, Greater Noida stood at 327, and Noida registered an AQI of 307, placing it 30th worldwide.
The Pakistani city of Lahore also featured in the top 10, ranking ninth with an AQI of 446.
The AQI.in rankings showed that poor air quality was not restricted to Delhi and the adjoining northern states. Several cities in central, eastern and western India also recorded elevated pollution levels.
Bhopal registered an AQI of 284, while Pune recorded 278. Patna stood at 258, followed by Varanasi at 243 and Rajkot at 242. Nashik reported an AQI of 219, while Bhubaneswar recorded 200.
In West Bengal, Durgapur registered an AQI of 197. Howrah recorded 187, while Kolkata stood at 183.
These readings highlighted the geographical spread of air pollution across different regions, with several cities recording concerning levels even outside the northern pollution belt.
Although Indian cities accounted for 93 of the 100 locations in the ranking, six locations from other countries also appeared on the list. Pakistan featured through Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad. Britain's Kidbrooke and Catford, along with Poland's Mielec and Indonesia's Sampit, were also included.
The November 9 figures presented a concerning picture of air quality across the country following Diwali. With cities from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and several other states recording high AQI levels, the rankings brought renewed attention to the country's pollution concerns.
