Air quality data recorded on Friday presented a grim picture. Krishna College, an educational locality, registered an Air Quality Index of 210 at 7 am, placing it in the “Extreme” category.
Published Dec 13, 2025 | 6:37 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 13, 2025 | 6:37 PM
The air quality in Visakhapatnam has deteriorated sharply, worrying public health experts.
Synopsis: With winter setting in, air quality levels across several centres in Visakhapatnam have deteriorated significantly, exposing residents to hazardous conditions and raising serious questions about regulatory oversight and policy priorities.
Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is grappling with a worsening air pollution crisis that civil society groups describe as a full-blown public health emergency.
The air quality in Visakhapatnam, also known as the City of Destiny, was “extreme” on Friday, 12 December, despite the Andhra Pradesh government’s efforts to portray it as a “global digital gateway” and a future-ready investment destination.
With winter setting in, air quality levels across several centres in the city have deteriorated significantly, exposing residents to hazardous conditions and raising serious questions about regulatory oversight and policy priorities.
Air quality data recorded on Friday presented a grim picture. Krishna College, an educational locality, registered an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 210 at 7 am, placing it in the “Extreme” category.
Such levels have been considered hazardous for all population groups, warranting immediate health advisories and emergency mitigation measures.
Hyderabad, the Telangana capital, reported a “Very High” AQI of 134 at the same hour, signalling unhealthy air that posed heightened risks to children, the elderly and those with respiratory or cardiac ailments.
In contrast, Beijing — often cited globally as an example of severe urban pollution — recorded an AQI of 53 — categorised as “High” — at 9.30 am. While still a cause for caution, especially for sensitive groups, the reading was significantly lower than those reported from the Indian locations, underscoring the severity of air quality stress in cities back home.
In a joint statement, the Human Rights Forum (HRF) and the Greater Visakhapatnam Citizens’ Forum (GVCF) said the city’s pollution levels revealed a stark gap between the government’s development narrative and the lived reality of residents “gasping for breath”.
They argued that the annual winter spike in pollution was not a temporary or seasonal anomaly, but the outcome of deeper structural failures in urban planning and environmental governance.
The two groups opined that the concentrations of fine particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10, along with toxic gases, remained above safe limits for much of the year.
Winter conditions, including low wind speeds and thermal inversions, trapped these pollutants closer to the ground, pushing AQI levels into the “Very Poor”, “Severe” and occasionally “Extreme” categories for prolonged periods.
Doctors across polluted neighbourhoods reported a steady rise in complaints of burning eyes, sore throats, persistent coughs and breathlessness. Cases of asthma, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory disorders are reportedly increasing, particularly in areas close to industrial clusters and high-traffic corridors.
Vulnerable groups—children, senior citizens and low-income communities—were bearing the brunt of prolonged exposure to polluted air.
The HRF and GVCF also criticised what they termed governance paralysis and regulatory abdication.
Despite repeated warnings and public appeals, Visakhapatnam still lacked a comprehensive, time-bound clean air action plan, designated low-emission zones or a robust system of real-time public alerts during hazardous pollution episodes.
Regulatory bodies, including the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, have been accused of weak enforcement, inadequate monitoring and failure to hold polluters accountable.
Calling the situation a combined public health and human rights crisis, the organisations demanded urgent and verifiable action. Their recommendations included stricter industrial emission controls, a rapid transition to clean energy, expansion of green public transport, transparent real-time air quality monitoring and legal accountability for violators.
They also urged the Central Pollution Control Board to align India’s air quality standards with updated World Health Organisation guidelines, warning that continued policy inaction risks normalising a crisis that was already costing lives.
The signatories to the joint statement were HRF AP and TG Coordination Committee member VS Krishna and Greater Visakhapatnam Citizens’ Forum president Sohan Hatangadi.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
