39 out of world’s 50 most polluted cities are in India: IQAir report

A total of 39 Indian cities featured on the list of world’s 50 most polluted cities, stated the fifth World Air Quality Report prepared by IQAir based on the annual average level of pollutant PM2.5 in air. The report has made a distinction between the national capital ‘New Delhi’ and  greater ‘Delhi’ — both among top 10 polluted cities.

IQAir is a Swiss air quality technology company that prepares annual world air quality reports based on data from monitoring stations operated by governments and other institutions and organisations across the world. The 2022 report is based on PM2.5 data from 7,323 cities and 131 countries.

Abysmal statistics showed that Bhiwadi in Rajasthan with PM levels of 92.7 was found to be the most polluted city in India and third most polluted city in the world. Meanwhile, Delhi emerged to be the most polluted metropolitan city with PM levels of 92.6 which is almost 20 times the safe limit. The national capital was ranked fourth on a list of 50.

Other cities that dominated the list included Patna, Muzzaffarnagar, Dharbanga, Noida, Gurgaon, Bulandshahr, Meerut, Charkhi Dadri, Jind, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Dadri, Meerut, Hisar and Greater Noida.

Top 10 most polluted city ranking based on annual average PM2.5 concentration (μg/m³). (Source: IQAir)

The data also concluded that Delhi’s next-door towns of Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad saw a slim decline in pollution levels – from 34 per cent in Gurugram to 21 per cent in Faridabad, based on the comparison of the current average PM 2.5 levels with those reported in previous years.

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Additionally, out of 131 countries, India ranked eighth with a population weighted average PM2.5 level of 53.3 μg/m3 in 2022. It was preceded by Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Kuwait on this list. The annual average for the country in 2022 was a little lower than the 58.1 μg/m3 recorded in 2021.