You stepped out the morning after Diwali, saw grey where the sky should be, and felt the air scratch the back of your throat. Millions across North India woke up to that same view on 9 November 2026.
So which are the most polluted cities in India after Diwali 2026? We went through the official Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) numbers and the global AQI.in ranking that has everyone talking. Here is the full top 10, what the AQI numbers mean, and what to do if your city is on it.
Quick Answer: The Top 10 at a Glance
Based on CPCB’s 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm on 9 November 2026 across 285 cities:
- Bahadurgarh, Haryana (AQI 400): the dirtiest air in the country, right at the edge of “Severe”.
- Charkhi Dadri, Haryana (389): a small district town with big-city smog.
- Khora, Uttar Pradesh (380): the dense NCR settlement squeezed between Noida and Delhi.
- Rohtak, Haryana (378): another Haryana city deep in the “Very Poor” band.
- Khairthal, Rajasthan (362): the NCR-side district HQ that keeps showing up on bad-air days.
- Anpara, Uttar Pradesh (355): a power-plant town far from Delhi, proving this isn’t just an NCR story.
- Faridabad, Haryana (350): Haryana’s big industrial city, tied for 7th.
- Panchgaon, Haryana (350): the Gurugram-district industrial belt, also tied for 7th.
- Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan (350): tied for 7th in India and No. 1 on the global AQI.in list.
- Kaithal, Haryana (347): rounds off a top 10 where Haryana takes six spots.
Just outside the top 10: Gurugram (345) and Delhi (344).
CPCB AQI List vs the Global AQI.in Ranking
Two different lists went viral today, and they don’t match. That’s normal. They measure different things.
| Point | CPCB (official, India) | AQI.in (global ranking) |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | 24-hour average AQI | Near real-time snapshot |
| Time of reading | 4 pm, 9 Nov 2026 (covering 4 pm, 8 Nov to 4 pm, 9 Nov) | 10:05 am, 9 Nov 2026 |
| No. 1 city | Bahadurgarh, AQI 400 | Sri Ganganagar, AQI 868 |
| Delhi | AQI 344, just outside the top 10 | New Delhi AQI 380, 15th in the world |
| Big headline | 6 of India’s top 10 in Haryana | 93 of the world’s 100 most polluted places in India |
Short version: a single hour can spike to scary numbers like 868, while the 24-hour average smooths that out. For ranking cities fairly, the CPCB average is the better yardstick, so that’s what our list uses.
1. Bahadurgarh, Haryana: India’s Worst Air After Diwali (AQI 400)
Bahadurgarh topped CPCB’s national list with a 24-hour average AQI of 400. That’s the very top of the “Very Poor” band (301–400). One more point and it would have been classed as “Severe”.
The town sits in Jhajjar district on Delhi’s western border and is part of the NCR. It’s a busy industrial hub and a major road corridor out of Delhi, so it collects pollution from traffic, factories and the wider regional haze that settles over the plains in November.
- Good to know: Tribune’s report on the CPCB data notes that no Haryana city slipped into “Severe” this year, unlike two cities after Diwali night in 2025. Small mercies.
- If you live here: treat outdoor exercise as off-limits until the AQI falls back below 200.
2. Charkhi Dadri, Haryana: Small Town, Big Smog (AQI 389)
Charkhi Dadri recorded a 24-hour AQI of 389, second in India. It became a separate district in 2016, carved out of Bhiwani, and it isn’t a megacity by any stretch.
That’s the uncomfortable lesson of this year’s list. You don’t need Delhi-level traffic to breathe Delhi-level air. In still, cold weather, smoke from firecrackers, vehicles and burning of any kind sits close to the ground across the whole region, and smaller towns with fewer monitoring stations can read just as badly.
Who should care most: families with young kids, older parents and anyone with asthma. A reading near 390 is risky even for healthy adults over long periods.
3. Khora, Uttar Pradesh: NCR’s Crowded Pocket (AQI 380)
Khora, in Ghaziabad district, came third with an AQI of 380. It is one of the most densely packed settlements in the NCR, wedged between Noida and East Delhi, with narrow lanes, heavy traffic on its edges and constant construction nearby.
Khora’s ranking also says something about its neighbours. On the AQI.in global snapshot the same morning, Ghaziabad read 331, Greater Noida 327 and Noida 307 (30th in the world). The whole eastern NCR was in the red.
4. Rohtak, Haryana: Another Haryana Hotspot (AQI 378)
Rohtak’s 24-hour AQI of 378 placed it fourth. The city is roughly 70 km northwest of Delhi and is one of Haryana’s main education and trade centres.
Rohtak also appeared among the Indian cities named in the AQI.in global top 100 the same morning. When a city turns up in both the official average and a global snapshot, the air problem is steady, not a one-hour spike.
Good to know: Haryana had 11 of the country’s 30 “Very Poor” cities in this CPCB bulletin. If you’re in Haryana, check your own city’s AQI daily this week, even if it isn’t in this top 10.
5. Khairthal, Rajasthan: The NCR Edge of Rajasthan (AQI 362)
Khairthal recorded 362. It is the headquarters of Khairthal-Tijara district, which Rajasthan carved out of Alwar district in August 2023. The district sits in the NCR zone, on the Rajasthan side of the Delhi–Jaipur belt.
Khairthal’s place on the list is a reminder that air pollution in November doesn’t respect state borders. The same stagnant air mass that traps smoke over Delhi and Haryana stretches across the plains into Rajasthan.
6. Anpara, Uttar Pradesh: The Power-Plant Town (AQI 355)
Anpara is the odd one out on this list, and that makes it important. It sits in Sonbhadra district in south-eastern Uttar Pradesh, hundreds of kilometres from Delhi, and recorded 355.
Anpara is home to the Anpara Thermal Power Station, and Sonbhadra has several coal mines and thermal plants. Air quality here has been the subject of cases before the National Green Tribunal, and the area falls under a CPCB action plan for the Singrauli industrial region.
- Why it’s here: its pollution comes largely from industry, so it can be bad on any day, not just after festivals.
- Takeaway: “post-Diwali pollution” is never only about firecrackers.
7. Faridabad, Haryana: Industrial NCR Giant (AQI 350)
Faridabad, Haryana’s most populous city, tied for seventh with an AQI of 350. It’s a long-standing manufacturing centre on Delhi’s southern border, with heavy traffic on the Delhi–Mathura road corridor.
Nearby readings were also in the “Very Poor” range: Ballabgarh, just south of Faridabad, logged 316 in the same bulletin. If you commute between Faridabad and Delhi, an N95 mask for the ride is worth it this week.
8. Panchgaon, Haryana: Gurugram’s Industrial Belt (AQI 350)
Panchgaon, also at 350, sits in Gurugram district near Manesar’s factories and the busy Delhi–Jaipur highway stretch. Manesar itself recorded 333, and Gurugram city came in just outside the top 10 at 345.
For the lakhs of people working in Gurugram’s offices and factories, that means the whole commute, from home to highway to workplace, ran through “Very Poor” air on 9 November.
9. Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan: No. 1 in the World on AQI.in (AQI 350)
Sri Ganganagar is the name in most headlines today. On AQI.in’s global ranking, updated at 10:05 am on 9 November, it was the most polluted place on Earth with an AQI of 868. Punjab’s Faridkot (842) and Bathinda (797) followed.
On CPCB’s 24-hour average, Sri Ganganagar read 350, tied for seventh in India. Both numbers are real. The gap shows how badly air can spike for a few hours, especially in the morning when cold air traps smoke near the ground.
The city sits in Rajasthan’s north, bordering Punjab, in a farming region. Both AQI.in reports stressed that the numbers alone don’t prove Diwali caused the spike, a fair caution, since many sources stack up in early November.
10. Kaithal, Haryana: Completing Haryana’s Six (AQI 347)
Kaithal closed out the top 10 at 347. With it, Haryana claimed six of India’s ten most polluted cities in this bulletin: Bahadurgarh, Charkhi Dadri, Rohtak, Faridabad, Panchgaon and Kaithal. Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan had two each.
Kaithal is a farming district in north Haryana. Just behind it came Gurugram and Bhiwani (both 345) and Delhi (344). Narnaul, in south Haryana, logged 305.
How We Picked This List
We didn’t invent a ranking. The order above follows the CPCB’s 24-hour average AQI recorded at 4 pm on 9 November 2026 across 285 cities, as reported by The Tribune. Where cities tied (Faridabad, Panchgaon and Sri Ganganagar at 350), we list them in the order reported.
We cross-checked the global AQI.in snapshot (10:05 am, 9 November) through DNA India and Oneindia, and used it only for context, never mixed into the CPCB ranking. City background comes from public records. AQI changes hourly, so today’s order may look different tomorrow.
What AQI Numbers Mean (and Myths to Drop)
CPCB’s bands are simple: 0–50 Good, 51–100 Satisfactory, 101–200 Moderate, 201–300 Poor, 301–400 Very Poor, and 401–500 Severe. Every city on this list is in “Very Poor”.
- Myth: “Delhi is always the worst.” Not this year. On CPCB’s average, Delhi (344) didn’t make the top 10, and on AQI.in it was 15th in the world.
- Myth: “Small towns have clean air.” Charkhi Dadri and Kaithal beg to differ.
- Myth: “It’s only firecrackers.” Anpara’s spot shows industry matters. Weather, vehicles, dust and crop-residue smoke all add up in November.
- Myth: “A cloth mask is enough.” For fine particles, a properly fitted N95 or N99 does far better.
- Mistake: opening windows in the morning to “air out” the house. Mornings often have the worst readings. Ventilate in the afternoon when AQI usually eases.
For practical steps at home, see our guide on the top ways to protect your family from air pollution this winter. Food helps too, a bit: our list of winter superfoods to eat in India covers seasonal options like amla and jaggery.
Delhi-NCR was already under GRAP Stage III, which the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) invoked on 6 November ahead of Diwali. If you’re in the NCR, expect the curbs to stay until the air clears.
Our Take
Bahadurgarh is this year’s unwanted champion, but the real story is Haryana: six of the top 10 and 11 of the 30 “Very Poor” cities. Sri Ganganagar’s 868 on AQI.in grabbed the headlines, yet the steadier CPCB averages show a whole region stuck in bad air, not one city.
Pollution is now a regional problem that needs regional fixes. Until then, check your AQI every morning and plan your day around it. If you’re curious how India compares globally, our list of the most polluted cities in the world puts it in perspective.
FAQs
Which is the most polluted city in India after Diwali 2026?
Bahadurgarh in Haryana, with a 24-hour average AQI of 400, according to CPCB data recorded at 4 pm on 9 November 2026.
Why does Sri Ganganagar show AQI 868 on one list and 350 on another?
AQI.in’s 868 was a near real-time morning reading, while CPCB’s 350 is a 24-hour average. Short spikes push snapshot readings far above the daily average.
Is Delhi among the top 10 most polluted cities in India right now?
Not on the 9 November CPCB bulletin. Delhi’s average AQI was 344, just behind Kaithal, Gurugram and Bhiwani. It was still in the “Very Poor” category.
How many Indian cities are among the world’s 100 most polluted?
On AQI.in’s ranking updated at 10:05 am on 9 November 2026, 93 of the top 100 locations were in India. Others included Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad in Pakistan.
Where can I check my city’s official AQI?
Use CPCB’s air quality portal or the SAMEER app, which show official readings from monitoring stations across India.
Sources: CPCB 24-hour AQI bulletin (4 pm, 9 November 2026) as reported by The Tribune; AQI.in ranking (10:05 am, 9 November 2026) as reported by DNA India and Oneindia. AQI readings change hourly. Check the CPCB AQI portal or the CPCB website for live data. This is general information, not medical advice.
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