On Tuesday, the Swiss firm IQAir released its latest ‘World Air Quality Report’, which ranked India as the eighth most polluted country in 2022, down from fifth place the previous year. The report revealed that out of 50 of the world’s most polluted cities, 39 are in India.
The top 10 most polluted countries were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan. Meanwhile, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, and New Zealand met the World Health Organization’s (WHO) PM2.5 guideline of an annual average of 5 Aug/m3 or less.
IQAir’s report was based on data from over 30,000 ground-based monitors, both government and non-government operated, from 131 countries. The transportation sector in India is responsible for 20-35 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution, while other sources of pollution are industrial units, coal-fired power plants and biomass burning.
Lahore in Pakistan and Hotan in China were ranked as the two most polluted cities in the world, with Rajasthan’s Bhiwadi in third place and Delhi in fourth place. The report highlighted that Delhi’s PM2.5 level is almost 20 times the safe limit.
Delhi has been the most polluted capital in the world, although the report made a distinction between ‘greater’ Delhi and New Delhi, the capital. Both were in the top 10, and the world’s most polluted capital went to Chad’s N’Djamena.
The National Capital’s peripherals, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad, have seen a decline in pollution levels. The report showed that there was a 34 per cent decline in Gurugram to 21 per cent in Faridabad, compared to the average PM2.5 levels reported in previous years. Delhi has seen an eight per cent decline.
The report warned that globally, poor air quality accounts for 93 billion days lived with illness and over six million deaths each year. Exposure to air pollution causes and aggravates several health conditions, including asthma, cancer, lung illnesses, heart disease, and premature mortality.
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According to the report, 31 cities, including ten in Uttar Pradesh and seven in Haryana, have seen a significant percentage decline in pollution levels. However, 38 cities and towns have seen a rise in pollution compared to the average of previous years.
Among the six metro cities, Kolkata was ranked the most polluted after Delhi. However, Chennai was stated to be the cleanest, with pollution ‘just’ five times the WHO’s safe level. The metro cities, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, saw an increase in pollution levels over the average since 2017.