As per a report by the Swiss organisation, IQAir, Delhi is the most polluted capital city in the world. Although Delhi’s air quality had improved almost 15% from 2019 to 2020, the city still ranked as the 10th most polluted city in the world. The 'World Air Quality Report 2020' added that 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities including Delhi are in India. Ghaziabad, a city in Uttar Pradesh and a part of the National Capital Region of Delhi, is the 2nd most polluted city in the world after Xinjiang in China. The eight Indian cities in the top 10 list are -- Bulandshahar, Bisrakh Jalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow (all in UP), Bhiwari in Rajasthan and Delhi.
Meerut, Agra and Muzaffarnagar (all in Uttar Pradesh), Faridabad, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bandhwari, Gurugram, Yamuna Nagar, Rohtak and Dharuhera (all in Haryana), and Muzaffarpur in Bihar are among the 30 other Indian most polluted Indian cities.
"India continues to feature prominently at the top of the most polluted cities ranking, with 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities globally," the report said.
The report ranks cities based on PM2.5 data from 106 nations, which is measured by ground-based monitoring stations, most of which are run by government agencies. The report also shows the impact of coronavirus lockdown and behavioural shifts on global particulate pollution (PM2.5) levels.
Air pollution in India is mostly caused by transportation, biomass burning for cooking, electricity generation, industry, construction, waste burning and episodic agricultural burning. The report states that the transportation sector contributes majorly to India’s chief PM2.5 emission sources across cities.
Avinash Chanchal, Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace India said that many cities in India have shown marginal improvements in air quality due to lockdowns, but the health and economic cost of air pollution remain severe. Governments need to prioritise sustainable and clean energy sources, as well as the cities, need to encourage low cost, active and carbon-neutral mobility choices such as walking, cycling, and accessible public transport, he added.
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"Speeding up the transition to clean energy and clean transport not only saves lives but also dramatically reduces healthcare-related costs,” Chanchal said.
CEO of IQAir Frank Hammes, informs, "The year 2020 brought an unexpected dip in air pollution. In 2021, we will likely see an increase in air pollution due to human activity, again. We hope this report will highlight that urgent action is both possible and necessary to combat air pollution, which remains the world's greatest environmental health threat.”
According to IQAir’s 2020 World Air Quality Report, India was home to 35 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities in 2020.