India’s air pollution, Roni: A small city on the outskirts of Delhi has the world’s worst air quality

Loni, India —

The city of Loni is less than an hour’s drive from Delhi, but its rapidly growing industrial base surpasses India’s capital city in having one enviable title.

Last year’s air quality was among the worst in the world, according to Switzerland’s IQAir.

Here, factory exhaust, traffic exhaust and construction dust create a toxic mixture that makes breathing an agonizing act for the city’s 700,000 residents.

“Forget about coughing. It’s difficult to even breathe here,” said Manoj Kumar, 45, an e-rickshaw driver and lifelong resident of Loni.

Resident Mohammad Momin Khan said the pollution is so unavoidable that he wears a mask every time he steps on the city’s poorly paved roads.

“We’re here 24 hours a day,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where you go.”

To determine the list of most polluted cities, IQ Air looked at one of the smallest but most dangerous pollutants: fine particulate matter (PM2.5).

According to IQ Air, the average PM2.5 concentration in Loni last year was 112.5, 22 times the World Health Organization’s safe limit.

When inhaled, PM2.5 particles can travel deep into lung tissue, where they can enter the bloodstream, and have been linked to asthma, heart disease, lung disease, cancer, other respiratory diseases, and even cognitive impairment in children.

Dr Anil Singh, who runs a clinic in Loni, said the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases has increased in the past five years.

“I especially see children coming in with early asthma symptoms at a very young age,” he said. “We can definitely say that environmental exposure is one of the prominent factors.”

Source: IQ Air World Air Quality Report 2025

Last year, three of the world’s top five most polluted cities were in India, with New Delhi once again emerging as the world’s most polluted capital, according to IQ Airlines.

Emissions from vehicles and industry, burning of crop residue and construction dust are the main sources of pollution in the country of 1.4 billion people, according to IQ Air.

From December to January, Loni and other cities in northern India routinely deal with severe pollution spikes during the cold, dry winter months.

A phenomenon called temperature inversion traps dangerous air close to the ground, creating a layer of cold, dense air that acts like a lid and prevents pollution from rising.

The severe dust storm that hit Delhi in April last year added more pollutants to Loni’s air, making it even more harmful, especially for its oldest and youngest residents.

Khushi Feroze, Loni’s mother, said her three-year-old son often suffers from allergies, coughs and gastritis due to the pollution.

“I have to dust my house two to three times a day because so much dust comes in,” she said. “You can see dust even in the farthest rooms in the house.”

India launched a clean air program in 2019, with 24 states and union territories implementing strategies to reduce particulate matter concentrations by 40% by 2025-26.

The measures include cracking down on coal-based power plants, installing air monitoring systems and banning biomass burning.

According to government data, some cities in India are seeing improvement in air quality. But experts suggest a lack of strict enforcement and coordination means progress is slow.

Last October, Delhi’s local government tried a cloud-seeding experiment to purify the capital’s air, but it failed.

The following month, when the average daily concentration of PM2.5 in the capital rose to dangerous levels, hundreds of people took part in an unprecedented protest calling for tougher government measures.

India’s efforts to clean its air are in contrast to neighboring China, where a multibillion-dollar, years-long effort to crack down on notorious air pollution has led to a decline in PM2.5 levels in the country, according to the IQ Air report.

Elsewhere in the region, Pakistani cities saw some of the highest annual average PM2.5 concentrations in the world, IQ Air said. The South Asian country was ranked the world’s most polluted country in 2025, according to the report.

Back in Loni, the residents say they just want to breathe free.

“Nothing has changed in the last 40 years,” said Kumar, an e-rickshaw driver.

For some, the only real solution may be to pack up and leave.

“I definitely feel better when I leave here,” Fellowes said. “Everywhere you go away from here, there’s something new. I don’t feel good here.”