NEW DELHI / LAHORE — India’s capital, New Delhi, overtook Pakistan’s Lahore on Friday to become the world’s most polluted major city, as thick seasonal smog plunged visibility and pushed air quality into hazardous territory for roughly 20 million residents.
According to Swiss air quality monitoring group IQ Air, Delhi recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 334, placing it in the “hazardous” category—far above the safe threshold of 50 or under. India’s official Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reported an even higher reading of 403, classifying the city’s air as “severe.” The disparity between the two figures stems from differing measurement methodologies and scale thresholds. On the ground, dense haze obscured streetlights and forced vehicles to crawl along major thoroughfares.
Severe Pollution Persists Across Pakistan’s Punjab
The shift in rankings comes just a day after Lahore topped global pollution charts while multiple cities across Pakistan’s Punjab province recorded alarming AQI levels exceeding 500.
While Lahore experienced a slight reprieve over a 24-hour window—with provincial monitoring data showing its 8:00 a.m. AQI dropping 98 points from 444 to 346—air conditions remained dangerously unhealthy, with IQAir recording fluctuations between 344 and 371. According to a recent report by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), Lahore’s air pollution has risen by 32 percent compared to the same period last year.
Elsewhere across Punjab, toxic smog continued to pose severe public health risks:
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Extreme IQ Air Readings: Raiwind registered an AQI of 519, followed closely by Bahawalpur at 515, Multan at 507, and Gujranwala at 411.
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Provincial Monitoring Alerts: Punjab’s air quality network recorded AQI readings reaching up to 500 across Kasur, Jhang, Nankana Sahib, Okara, Pakpattan, and Sahiwal.
Seasonal Crisis Driven by Weather and Emissions
Toxic air remains an annual winter crisis across northern India and eastern Pakistan, where cold, stagnant air traps a dense mix of industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust, construction dust, and smoke from seasonal agricultural crop-residue burning close to the ground.