According to the World Air Quality Report 2019, India has once again topped the list of most polluted cities in the world.
Six Indian cities stood in the list of world’s 10 most-polluted urban areas. And, world’s top-30 polluted cities include 21 Indian cities.
Ghaziabad, a city in Uttar Pradesh state, topped the list as the most polluted city in the world with an average PM2.5 concentration measurement of 110.2 in 2019.
Cities including Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Greater Noida and Bandhwari are in the Top-10 polluted cities in the world.
According to the report, the Indian cities surpassed the WHO guidelines for particulate pollution (PM2.5) in the atmosphere by an average of 500%.
Air pollution has become one of the main concerns in India as it claims around 1.25 million lives annually.
Fine particulates, which are smaller than 2.5 mm in diameter, are consider harmful as they can cause cardiovascular diseases, heart stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, among others.
PM 2.5 particulates, which are 30 times smaller than human hair, include hazardous pollutants such as sulfate, nitrates and black carbon.
However, India has made some progress in controlling air pollution over previous year. The progress is attributed to the initiatives taken by the Indian Government.
The National Clean Air Programme and the plan to establish world’s largest expansion of renewable energy by 2022 are considered to decrease the air pollution in India.
Meanwhile, China made a significant progress in tackling air pollution in its cities. Beijing, the capital city of China, once one of the most polluted cities in the world, is now not even in the top-200 polluted cities.
Particulate levels in Beijing have decreased by 50% in the last decade and Sulphur dioxide declined by 83% from 2013 to 2017.
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