📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Simranpreet Singh Gill
Health
Bathinda records AQI of 737, tops India's most polluted cities
✍️ Oherald
🗓 07 Nov 2026, 04:58 PM
👁 13
Bathinda in Punjab posted an Air Quality Index of 737, making it the most polluted city in India today, according to Oherald's latest ranking of ten worst‑affected cities.
Bathinda, a city in Punjab, recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 737, the highest reading among Indian cities on the day Oherald published its list of the ten most polluted locations. The figure places Bathinda in the "hazardous" category, where exposure can cause serious health effects even for healthy individuals.
The Oherald ranking, which tracks real‑time pollution data across the country, identified nine other cities with elevated AQI levels, but none approached Bathinda's extreme reading.
Health officials warn that such a concentration of pollutants, primarily fine particulate matter, can aggravate respiratory conditions, trigger cardiovascular stress, and reduce overall air quality comfort for residents.
Local authorities have been urged to intensify emission‑control measures, including stricter regulation of industrial output and vehicular traffic, to bring the city's air quality back within safe limits.
The data underscores the growing challenge of air pollution in northern India and highlights the need for coordinated action at both state and national levels.
The Oherald ranking, which tracks real‑time pollution data across the country, identified nine other cities with elevated AQI levels, but none approached Bathinda's extreme reading.
Health officials warn that such a concentration of pollutants, primarily fine particulate matter, can aggravate respiratory conditions, trigger cardiovascular stress, and reduce overall air quality comfort for residents.
Local authorities have been urged to intensify emission‑control measures, including stricter regulation of industrial output and vehicular traffic, to bring the city's air quality back within safe limits.
The data underscores the growing challenge of air pollution in northern India and highlights the need for coordinated action at both state and national levels.