Ghaziabad , RLD MLA Madan Bhaiya, who hails from Loni in Ghaziabad district, on Tuesday alleged that unplanned growth, illegal factories and poor drainage system are responsible for Loni being ranked as the most polluted city across the globe.
Loni-based activists claimed that large quantities of e-waste are set on fire in night hours, causing high pollution in the area.
“Unauthorised colonies have come up in Loni with the connivance of local administration, while factories are running illegally,” Madan Bhaiya told PTI.
The Khatauli MLA also claimed that the drainage system has totally collapsed in the town and during rains, roads turn into pools. These are main reasons of high pollution in Loni, he said.
Neeraj Tyagi, a Loni-based activist, said illegal e-waste disposal is carried out with the connivance of officials.
“Large quantities of e-waste are set on fire in night hours to extract metals. As a result, toxic smoke pollutes the entire area,” Tyagi said.
Ram Naresh, a Loni-based farmer, said that the remains of dead animals are dumped into deep pits in the town.
According to the World Air Quality Report, 2025, India is the sixth most-polluted country when it comes to levels of fine particulate matter, a major air pollutant, while UP’s Loni is the most polluted city across the globe and Delhi is at the fourth spot.
The eighth edition of the report published by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company, analysed data from monitoring stations across 9,446 cities in 143 countries, regions and territories.
According to the report, Pakistan is the most polluted country, followed by Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Chad and Congo.
Among the 10 most polluted cities across the globe, five are from India, including Loni, Delhi, and Ghaziabad.
“The world’s 25 most polluted cities were all located in India, Pakistan and China, with India home to three of the four most polluted. Loni, India, was the most polluted city, recording an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 112.5 µg/m³, a nearly 23 per cent increase from 2024 and more than 22 times the WHO guideline,” the report said.
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