With AQI 454, Greater Noida turns India's most polluted city; Ghaziabad follows

Weather officials said that a combination of low wind speed, dipping temperatures, and persistent haze allowed pollutants to accumulate.

The Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) 4 pm national bulletin on Tuesday identified Greater Noida as the most polluted city in India, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 454, firmly in the “severe” category. Marking a sharp decline from its Monday level of 390 (“very poor”).

A bird flies past a highrise building on a smoggy morning amid ongoing air pollution in Delhi-NCR.(REUTERS/Anushree Fadnavis)

Meanwhile, Ghaziabad ranked as the nation’s second-worst polluted city, recording a ‘severe’ AQI of 434 for the third consecutive day. Noida, with an AQI of 390, was the fifth worst-affected city, its air quality categorised as “very poor”. A day earlier, the AQI levels in Noida and Ghaziabad were 358 and 401, respectively.

In Greater Noida, both of the city’s active air quality monitoring stations under the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) reported concerning levels. The station at Knowledge Park-V recorded an AQI of 480 by evening, with PM10 levels averaging 480 (max 500, a likely higher limit for the sensors at these stations) and PM2.5 averaging 442. NO2 levels were an average of 84 (max 174). The station at Knowledge Park-III logged an AQI of 432, with PM10 averaging 432, PM2.5 averaging 417, and NO2 at an average of 123 (max 211).

Similarly, in Ghaziabad, all four operating stations reported severe conditions by evening. The Vasundhara station was the worst, with an AQI of 450, showing PM2.5 averaging 450, PM10 averaging 445, and NO2 averaging 141 (max 212). The Indirapuram station logged a 437 AQI, with PM2.5 at an average of 387 (max 442), PM10 at 435, and NO2 at 93 (max 138). The Loni station also reported a 437 AQI, with PM2.5 averaging 413, PM10 averaging 438, and NO2 at 113 (max 165). The Sanjay Nagar station recorded a 426 AQI, with PM2.5 averaging 428 (max 500), PM10 averaging 394 (max 467), and NO2 at an average of 9 (max 18).

Weather officials stated that a combination of low wind speed, dipping temperatures, and persistent haze allowed pollutants to accumulate, with no immediate relief in sight. “Wind speeds remained low today, between 7 and 10 kmph, with the flow coming from the west and west-northwest. We don’t expect any major change in the coming days either, as winds will stay light and variable. Pollution levels are likely to remain very high, and no relief is expected for now,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet Weather.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast mainly clear to hazy skies over the next 48 hours. On Tuesday, Gautam Budh Nagar recorded a minimum temperature of 9.5°C, though no maximum temperature was available from the IMD for the district. Ghaziabad recorded a maximum of 24.4°C and a minimum of 12.1°C. Officials said the early setting of winter inversion and persistently high emissions mean the region is likely to witness elevated pollution levels throughout the week.