Gurugram’s air 5 times worse than national standards last winter: Study

Southern Haryana, including Gurugram and Faridabad, faced severe air quality issues, with PM2.5 levels drastically exceeding national standards this winter.

The southern Haryana districts, including Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat and Bahadurgarh, recorded the worst air quality between last October and February, with the highest concentration of secondary particulate matter in the state, according to an analysis conducted by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

The analysis is based on Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) between October 1, 2025, and February 28. (Parveen Kumar/ht)

The analysis, based on Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) between October 1, 2025, and February 28, showed Gurugram recording an average PM2.5 of 138 µg/m³, nearly five times above India’s national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) of 40 µg/m³ and 27 times higher than the World Health Organisation standards of 5 µg/m³.

According to the CREA’s analysis, Gurugram emerged among the 10 most polluted districts in the country. The PM2.5 concentrations remained above NAAQS standards for 144 of 151 days of observed air quality in the analysis. While it’s nearby town Faridabad recorded an average PM2.5 of 91 µg/m³ and for 134 days exceeding NAAQS, the other southern districts, such as Panipat (average PM2.5 of 96 µg/m³, 111 days), Bahadurgarh (146 µg/m³, 127 days), Ballabgarh (104 µg/m³, 133 days) and Sonipat (122 µg/m³, 117 days) showed similarly high presence of particulate matter concentrations in the air, the analysis found.

Within Gurugram, Manesar recorded an average PM2.5 of 121 µg/m³ during this winter season, with particulate matter concentrations exceeding the NAAQS in 132 of 143 days observed in the study. “The rising emission levels, coupled with chemical reactions in the air, are driving pollution in these districts. Unless we cut down on precursor gases like sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through coordinated regional efforts and mitigation strategies, any air quality gains will likely be temporary,” said Dr Manoj Kumar, an analyst at CREA.

In a countrywide analysis released on Friday, CREA found that Haryana topped the list of states with the highest number of cities where all monitored locations exceeded the PM2.5 NAAQS, with 24 cities breaching the standard. Other districts with high PM2.5 levels in winter included Jind (100,124 days exceeding NAAQS), Karnal (87, 120 days), and Kurukshetra (84, 124 days), all in Haryana.