10 Indian cities among 15 top polluted cities of world

Tribune News Service

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, March 22

India’s air pollution worsened in 2021, according to a World Air Quality Report, with Delhi emerging as the most polluted capital city in the world, topping the list of capital cities with the highest average annual PM2.5 concentration.

India, in fact, was home to 11 of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021, according to the World Air Quality Report 2021 prepared by Swiss organization IQAir.

Read also: New Delhi world’s most polluted capital city for second consecutive year

“Delhi saw a 14.6 per cent increase in PM2.5 concentrations in 2021 with levels rising to 96.4 µg/m3 from 84 µg/m3 in 2020. No cities in India met World Health Organisation (WHO) air quality guideline of 5 µg/m3. In 2021, 48 per cent of India’s cities exceeded 50 µg/m3, or more than 10 times the WHO guideline,” it said.

While Delhi’s air pollution ranks at No. 4 globally, world’s most polluted place, as per the report, is Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi, followed by Ghaziabad (UP) on Delhi’ border. At number three is Hotan (China). Ten of the top 15 most polluted cities are in India, largely round the national capital. NOIDA is at number seven while Hisar, Faridabad and Rohtak in Haryana are at 11, 12 and 14, respectively. Greater Noida ranks 13 in the top 15 with the remaining four being in neighboring Pakistan.

“India also continues to feature prominently among the most polluted cities with 35 of the top 50 most polluted cities being in this country. India’s annual average PM2.5 levels reached 58.1 µg/m3 in 2021,” it said.

On the global front, only three per cent of cities and no single country met the latest WHO PM2.5 annual air quality guideline.

Data reveals that smog rebounded in some regions after a dip due to Covid lockdown.

“Air pollution has a massive impact on human health in India. It is the second biggest risk factor for disease, and the economic cost of air pollution is estimated to exceed $150 billion dollars annually”

Major sources of air pollution in India include vehicular emissions, power generation, industrial waste, biomass combustion for cooking, the construction sector, and episodic events like crop burning.