The abandonment of the India–South Africa T20 match amid thick smog on Wednesday has once again thrown a harsh spotlight on the worsening air pollution gripping large parts of north India, with real-time data and new studies pointing to a deeply entrenched winter pollution problem driven largely by local sources.
On the day of the match, air quality across several north Indian cities remained firmly in the 'poor' to 'very poor' category.
On Thursday noon, in Lucknow, the city-level Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 201, categorised as 'poor', according to official monitoring data. Station-level readings revealed sharp spatial variation, with AQI touching 297 at Talkatora Industrial Area and 292 at Kendriya Vidyalaya, while relatively greener pockets like Kukrail Picnic Spot recorded lower but still elevated levels around 95.
Health advisories warned that prolonged exposure at these levels could cause breathing discomfort for most people, even those without underlying respiratory illness. The conditions on the ground continue to mirror the smog blanket that ultimately forced the T20 match to be called off, raising concerns about athlete safety and spectator exposure.
Toxic cocktail; old excuses don't wash anymore
Environmental experts say the episode is emblematic of a larger structural crisis. A recent early-winter assessment by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has found that pollution levels across Delhi-NCR and increasingly in neighbouring cities have risen to dangerously high levels, despite lower farm fire contributions this season.
"Delhi and NCR cannot hide behind the smokescreen of farm fires anymore," said Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director at CSE. "Even with a much lower contribution from stubble burning, air quality has turned very poor to severe, clearly exposing the dominance of local sources such as vehicles, industry and combustion."
The CSE analysis highlights what it calls a "toxic cocktail" of pollutants during early winter, a synchronised rise in PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and carbon monoxide (CO), especially during morning and evening traffic peaks. While PM2.5 remains the main driver of AQI spikes, toxic gases linked to vehicular emissions are increasingly reinforcing particulate pollution under shallow winter boundary layers.
"What is worrying is that pollution control responses continue to focus disproportionately on dust control, while action on vehicles, waste burning and solid fuels remains weak," Roychowdhury added.
Not confined to cities alone
The problem is no longer confined to megacities alone.
CSE's findings show that smaller towns across the wider airshed are witnessing longer and more intense smog episodes, often rivaling or exceeding pollution levels in Delhi. This regional saturation of pollution explains why sporting events, transport corridors and daily life are increasingly vulnerable to disruption across north India.
'A turning point'?
Yet, amid this grim backdrop, new evidence suggests that exposure is not uniform and that targeted interventions can significantly reduce health risks.
India's first in-bus air quality study, released on Thursday, found that passengers travelling on long-distance routes breathed cleaner air for up to 80% of their journey time, even while passing through some of the country’s most polluted corridors.
"This dataset marks a turning point in how we understand air quality during intercity journeys," said Ronak Sutaria, Founder and CEO of Respirer Living Sciences, which conducted the study along with IntrCity SmartBus. "For the first time, we can quantify what passengers are actually breathing inside buses and show that clean-air systems can make a measurable difference."
Monitoring across 11 intercity buses, including the Delhi–Lucknow route, showed PM2.5 levels staying below 60 µg/m³ for more than 80% of travel time, even as ambient air outside frequently remained in the 'very poor' range. High-pollution spikes were short-lived and typically coincided with traffic bottlenecks or boarding points.
Public health experts say such findings underline the importance of exposure reduction strategies, particularly as outdoor air quality improvements remain slow and uneven.