Pollution is a big problem in the world, but this problem is even bigger for us because 22 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India. Not only this, Delhi is at the top of the list of most polluted capital cities of the world. This has been said in the World Air Quality Report -2020 prepared by Swiss organization ‘IQ Air’.
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Albeit, the report stated that Delhi’s air quality has improved in 2020 vis-a-vis. 2019, but despite this, Delhi is ranked number 10 among the most polluted cities in the world. Delhi has been named the most polluted capital globally.
China’s Xinjiang at the top, Ghaziabad at number two
According to IQ Air’s report, China’s Xinjiang city is the most polluted city in the world. After this, nine of the top 10 cities are from India.
Ghaziabad ranks second in the list of the world’s most polluted cities. It is followed by Bulandshahar, BisarkhJalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow and Bhiwadi. Pollution levels in these cities have been measured based on PM 2.5.
21 cities in India included in the top 50 polluted cities
The report said that among the 50 most polluted cities in the world, 49 cities are from Bangladesh, China, India and Pakistan. Besides Delhi, there are 21 other cities in India.Ghaziabad, Bulandshahr, BisarkhJalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra and Muzaffarnagarof Uttar Pradesh.Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, Faridabad, Jind, Hisar , Fatehabad, Bandhwadi, Gurugram, Yamunanagar, Rohtakand Dharuherain Haryana and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
Bangladesh is the most polluted country
The position of Bangladesh has been described as the worst in the ranking of countries. After this, the air quality of Pakistan and India has been described as the worst. Delhi tops the World Capital City rankings, followed by Dhaka and Ulaanbaatar.
Delhi’s condition
The report states that Delhi’s air quality has improved in the year 2020 as compared to the year 2019. But despite this improvement, Delhi ranks 10th among the most polluted cities in the world. It is estimated that 20 to 40 per cent of Delhi’s air pollution is due to the burning of stubble in Punjab’s fields during the season.
Air pollution in India is at an alarming level
According to the report, despite widespread air quality improvements during 2019 and 2020, air pollution in India is still dangerously high. According to the report, Transport is the biggest source of PM2.5 pollutants in Indian cities. Other sources of air pollution in India include burning biomass for cooking, power generation, industry, construction, burning of waste and stubble burning.