SHOCKING! THIS northeast city surpasses Delhi to become the most polluted Indian city in mid-year pollution list, it is...

In a recent mid-year report by Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), it is revealed that Delhi is the second most polluted city in India from January to June 2025. While, Delhi has always been the most polluted city, a small town on the Assam-Meghalaya border, Brynihat has shockingly surpassed the national capital, to become the most polluted city this year. 

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) prepared the report by taking data from 293 cities, and the findings are extremely worrying. It reveals that Delhi has an average PM2.5 concentration of 87 µg/m³.This exceeds far beyond the India’s national air quality standard and the World Health Organization (WHO) limit. Delhi recorded 'very poor' air quality for 29 days and 'good' for only 3 days, while 63 days 'moderate', 52 days 'satisfactory' and 31 days 'poor', and 'severe' for 3 days.

Brynihat tops the list

What's most shocking is that, Byrnihat recorded a shocking average PM2.5 level of 133 µg/m³. Byrnihat did not record 'good' air quality, not even on one day, it ranged between 'very poor' for 75 days and 'severe' for 13 days.

CREA reports reveal that while Delhi has imposed end-of-life vehicles ban to curb pollution, the situation is still not improved due to other several sources that causes pollution. IT includes dust,  industrial units, power plants, crop burning and even household fuel burning. According to research from IIT Delhi, PM2.5 pollution in Delhi comes from Dust (17–38), Transport (17–28%), Industrial and power sources (22–30%), Residential combustion (8–10%) and Crop burning (4–7%). As per reports, only 2 out of 11 thermal power plants near Delhi have installed pollution control system like Fuel Gas esulfurization units, even after Supreme court orders. 

Indian cities cross WHO pollution limits

There are total 293 cities in India, sadly, out of them 259 cities have crossed the WHO safe limit for pollution, that is PM2.5. All 259 cities have crossed this limit by June 2025. Moreover, CREA report also urges the government to revise the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), to come close to the set global guidelines. CREA report indicates India's national capital's poluution crisis, it crossed WHO limit was crossed on January 10, and surpassed Indian NAAQS limit by June 5. This means it has already failed its 'pollution budget' for this year. In simple terms, if from now onwards the air quality of Delhi remains clean, it still has failed the yearly air quality target. CREA has termed this 'overshoot Day', which means the date after which a city has already used its pollution budget for the year. 

Polluted cities and clean cities

Apart from Delhi and Byrnihat, other cities topping the pollution charts are Hajipur, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Sasaram, Patna, Talcher, Rourkela and Rajgir. Bihar has four cities in the top 10 polluted list, followed by Odisha with two. Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Delhi each have one.

The cleanest city of India is not Indore in Madhya Pradesh, but Aizawl in Mizoram with an average PM2.5 level of just 8 µg/m³. Other clean cities are in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Madhya Pradesh.