Hyderabad woke up to severe air pollution on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2026. At midnight, the city’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) soared to 339. By 6 a.m., traffic and leftover smoke pushed AQI even higher to 353, labeled as ‘severe’ pollution. Resident P.Satyavathi shared, "I usually start my day at 5 a.m., and leave for work by 6 a.m., but after seeing the haze outside, I shut my door and stayed home till 7.30 a.m. The air was so thick that I could not see what was 10 yards ahead of me." Even the day's lowest AQI was 230 at 3:04 p.m., still marked as ‘poor’ and comparable to smoking 20-30 cigarettes daily. Pollutants PM2.5 and PM10 stayed high, at averages of 145 µg/m³ and 189 µg/m³ respectively—far above World Health Organisation safe limits of 15 and 45 µg/m³. Most parts of the city recorded AQI above 300 for much of the day. Badangpet hit a record-breaking 432 at 1 a.m., categorised as ‘Hazardous’. Nearby Ameenpur and Upparpally recorded AQIs of 396 and 383. Firecracker bursts at midnight played a major role in this spike. Experts say PM2.5 comes from burning fossil fuels like vehicles and industry, while PM10 arises from dust and construction. Environment activist K. Babu Rao explained, "Hyderabad is an arid region, and hence dusty. Both PM2.5 and PM10 could be caused by rising dust and vehicles usually aggravate this problem too. Microplastics are freshly discovered as one more category of air pollutants, mostly caused here due to the friction between the road and the vehicle tyres." Residents face a tough start to 2026 with the air quality remaining dangerously poor after festive celebrations.