Gurgaon: The city ranked fourth among Haryana’s 25 monitored locations for both PM2.5 and PM10 in Sept, as particulate pollution rose sharply from a year earlier. The average concentrations of the two pollutants were 47% and 78% above their respective annual national standards.PM2.5 averaged 58.94 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³), against National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 40 µg/m³, or 18.94 µg/m³ above the limit. PM10 averaged 106.7 µg/m³, against the annual standard of 60 µg/m³, or 46.7 µg/m³ above it.Only three locations recorded higher PM2.5 levels than Gurgaon: Panipat (77.63 µg/m³), Jind (65.23) and Yamunanagar (60.91). For PM10, Panipat again topped the list at 125.57 µg/m³, followed by Faridabad (121.21) and Ambala (110.49).The city’s PM2.5 average was 52% higher than the 38.81 µg/m³ recorded in Sept 2025 and 27% higher than the 46.51 µg/m³ in Sept 2024. PM10 rose 23% from 86.95 µg/m³ last year and nearly 38% from Sept 2024.“The higher pollution levels in Gurgaon point to a combination of local emissions, regional pollution transport and meteorological conditions that limit the dispersion of pollutants. As the city is part of the NCR airshed, its air quality is also influenced by emissions beyond the city’s administrative boundaries,” said Manoj Kumar, air analyst, Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).The longer-term picture is more mixed. This Sept’s PM2.5 level was higher than in Sept 2022 and 2024, though marginally below the 59.91 µg/m³ recorded in Sept 2023. PM10 was below the Sept levels of 2022 (110.21 µg/m³) and 2023 (121.39 µg/m³), but substantially above those of 2024 and 2025.The comparison is with annual standards, however, so the monthly averages cannot by themselves be treated as evidence of a violation of those limits. The findings put the city among Haryana’s leading particulate pollution hotspots as the NCR heads into the winter pollution season.
