Delhi's air pollution: Most emissions come from mystery sources

India Nov 27, 2025

Delhi's air is still in crisis mode, and here's the twist—about 35% of the city's toxic emissions are coming from sources experts can't even identify.
That's more than any other single cause, making it tough to fix the problem.
The rest comes from nearby NCR cities (30%), vehicles (20%), and smaller chunks from homes, factories, and construction dust.

Air quality keeps getting worse

Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) nosedived from a decent 130 in early October to a hazardous 400+ by mid-November—and things stayed "very poor" or worse all month.
Even neighborhoods that usually have cleaner air saw AQIs above 230.
Basically, no one is breathing easy, and fixing this means tackling both the obvious and those mysterious pollution sources.