Delhi overtakes Lahore as world's most polluted city as air quality drops
NEW DELHI India’s capital, Delhi, overtook Lahore in Pakistan to become the world’s most polluted city on Friday (November 13, 2026), with air quality reaching hazardous levels and visibility dropping as smog blanketed the city of 20 million people. Also Read: Delhi reels under ‘severe’ level air pollut Air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was “hazardous” at 334, making it the most polluted major city, according to Swiss group IQAir, which measures air quality levels based on the concentration of toxins At peak of air pollution on Deepavali, data goes missing at several government monitoring stations in Delhi At peak of air pollution on Deepavali, data goes missing at several government monitoring stations in Delhi Missing PM2.5 data for several hours on CPCB website understated city’s pollution levels: experts; 227 PM2.5 observations were missing across 59 stations; govt.
will look into it: Mishra At peak of air pollution on Deepavali, data goes missing at several government monitoring stations in Delhi storyline 1 An AQI reading up to 50 is considered good with little or no health risk. India’s official Central Pollution Control Board pegged the AQI higher at 403 and rated it “severe” The Swiss and Indian readings vary due to the different AQI scales and methodologies used to calculate and classify air pollution levels.
Also Read: Deepavali pollution spike; how does it affect lung function and respiratory health? | Explained Cars and motorcycles emerged from dense smog, which also appeared to obscure street lights on the city’s main roads, videos from news agency ANI showed Pollution is a seasonal problem in many parts of northern India and neighbouring Pakistan, as the cold, heavy air of winter traps vehicle emissions, construction dust and smoke from agricultural burning
