Guwahati: Delhi’s air pollution crisis often dominates national attention, but a new satellite-based assessment shows that Assam is rapidly joining the ranks of India’s worst-affected regions.

According to a study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), eleven districts in Assam now feature among the country’s fifty most polluted districts based on PM2.5 levels. Delhi also accounts for eleven districts on the list, followed by Bihar and Haryana with seven each. The remaining spots include districts from Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

The report points to widespread non-compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards across several states. All monitored districts in Delhi, Assam, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Jammu and Kashmir exceeded the annual limits.

Assam’s situation is particularly troubling. All thirty-four districts assessed in the state breached the national standards in 2024. CREA notes that Assam, Delhi, Punjab, and Tripura remain year-round pollution hotspots, even during the monsoon months when air typically improves across much of India. Assam recorded twenty-one districts above PM2.5 limits during the monsoon, suggesting that weather alone cannot dilute the region’s underlying emissions.

The study highlights an emerging trend: the Northeastern states, long considered relatively clean, are now unexpected pollution hotspots. Assam and Tripura ranked among the top five most polluted regions in three seasons—winter, summer, and monsoon.

CREA recommends that states prepare district-level air quality action plans, using satellite data to pinpoint pollution hotspots and direct resources where public exposure is highest. It stresses that persistent high PM2.5 levels across the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Northeast will require sustained action on major emission sources, including power generation, industry, transport, and biomass burning.