Ghaziabad (India) (AFP) – “I feel like I’m swallowing 50 grams of dust a day.” With the back of his hand, Kanwar Singh cleans the film that covers his clothes, as he does on each of his motorcycle trips. In Loni, in northern India, it's impossible to escape the pollution.
Published on: 09/11/2026 - 08:34
“It gets into my throat and into my lungs,” describes this 55-year-old cigarette seller, “in the evening, I have to drink hot water and gargle to be able to breathe.”
About thirty kilometers west of the Indian capital New Delhi, Loni inherited in 2025 the infamous first place in the list of the most polluted cities on the planet drawn up by IQAir, a Swiss air quality monitoring company.
Its 700,000 residents breathed an average concentration of 112.5 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 - carcinogenic particles so fine they enter directly into the bloodstream.
A quantity... more than 22 times higher than the annual threshold recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
New Delhi, like Noida and Ghaziabad in its suburbs, appeared in the top 20 of the same ranking, with four other Indian cities.
During pollution peaks, from November to January, when cold air keeps pollutants close to the ground, PM2.5 concentrations can exceed 800 micrograms per cubic meter, or more than 50 times the threshold recommended by the WHO over 24 hours.
And yet, like most of their residents, Mr. Singh does not wear a mask and simply covers his face with a scarf or handkerchief.
“No more desires”
“We are poor,” explains Mr. Singh, who earns less than 5 euros a day. “If we had money, we would have bought an apartment elsewhere.”
Few residents have the means to live in well-insulated housing or to equip themselves with air purifiers.
Pollution takes a particular toll on residents of Loni, home to electronic waste processing plants, textile dyeing workshops, plastic recycling sites and metallurgical facilities.
In August, the authorities responsible for monitoring air quality noted “numerous non-compliances” with the environmental standards in force. Like the presence of wood and coal ovens in several factories.
Added to these toxic emissions is the dust emanating from construction sites, pothole-ridden roads and, above all, the numerous vehicles that use them.
“I have throat problems, a burning sensation in my eyes. People very often get sick very quickly,” says Savita Devi, 51.
In the morning, before the sun begins to dissipate the toxic fog, "I just don't want to do anything anymore," confides this housewife, who admits that the situation is taking a toll on her mental health.
“Just survive”
Like many other residents, she noticed that her grandchildren were more often sick during pollution peaks, which promote cancer and cardiovascular disease.
According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air based in Finland, poor air quality caused more than 17,000 deaths in Delhi in 2023, or 15% of the deaths recorded there.
And across India, a study published in 2024 in the journal The Lancet estimated the number of deaths linked to air pollution at 3.8 million between 2009 and 2019.
Faced with this assessment, the measures taken so far by local authorities seem insignificant.
This is the case with these trucks which crisscross the roads, watering them to keep down the dust. “She keeps coming back,” laments Inamul Khan, a 27-year-old trader. “We have to wash our clothes and our sheets two or three times. Everything ends up being damaged.”
Like every year, Kunwar Singh, who suffers from respiratory problems, saw Diwali arrive with concern, the Hindu festival of lights this Sunday, where firecrackers and fireworks aggravate the pollution and force him to remain cloistered at home.
“I wear a mask, I cover my face and I take my medicine,” he says, “just to survive.”
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© 2026 AFP
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