Daily Current Affairs for UPSC : 5 Nov 2025/Delhi, India’s 6th most polluted city during October 2025:

Delhi, India’s 6th most polluted city during October 2025:

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Delhi was the sixth most polluted among India’s one hundred most polluted cites in October, 2025.  The average PM2.5 was 107 µg/m³ – almost three times the PM2.5 average in September, of 36 µg/m³.

The report mentions that stubble burning is ~6% of Delhi’s PM2.5. Therefore, the report highlights the ongoing pollution in and around Delhi, which is ongoing pollution year-round, and we should have longer-term measures rather than short-term measures like the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).

Dharuhera  The most polluted in India:

• According to CREA, Dharuhera in Haryana was the most polluted city in India. The monthly average PM2.5 for October was 123 µg/m³. Its PM2.5 exceeded the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) on 77% of the days in October. Dharuhera had two “Severe Days” and nine “Very Poor Days” during October.

NCR cities make top five list:

• Ghaziabad ranked third, while Noida ranked fourth. The report indicated a alarming drop in air quality across the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP), particularly for the National Capital Region (NCR). Nationwide air quality has worsened dramatically:
• The reportstates that air quality has deteriorated nationwide. The number of cities rated ‘Good’ (AQI 0–30 µg/m³) plummeted from 179 in September down to 68 in October. The number of cities rated ‘Satisfactory’ (AQI 31–60 µg/m³) increased from 52 to 144 and the number of cities rated ‘Moderate’ (AQI 61–90 µg/m³) increased from 4 to 27. Nine cities were rated as ‘Poor’ (AQI 91–120 µg/m³) and one city ranked as ‘Very Poor’ (AQI 121–250 µg/m³).

Other megacities stay within safe margins:

• Except for Delhi, all other megacities—Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru—had PM2.5 levels safely below the NAAQS limit. Of the 249 cities, 212 had PM2.5 levels below 60 µg/m³.

The cleanest city in October was Shillong:

• Shillong (Meghalaya) was the cleanest city in October with an average PM2.5 level of 10 µg/m³. The ten cleanest cities for PM2.5 included four cities in Karnataka, three cities in Tamil Nadu, one city in Meghalaya, one city in Sikkim, and one city in Chhattisgarh.

CREA advocates for action all year:

• CREA Analyst Manoj Kumar argues that the winter and festive seasons do not, themselves, produce pollution, but rather they add to the already elevated high baselines. He stressed the importance of cuts to emissions from each sector and having clear lines of accountability. He was sharp in that the current approaches create a reaction rather than addressing sources of pollution to solve the issue throughout all seasons.