India was the fifth most polluted country in 2019 with Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region ranking as the most polluted city in the world, according to a global compilation of PM2.5 particulate pollution data by a company that primarily works on air filtration.
On the whole, air pollution in India decreased in 2019 from 2018 though about half of the 50 most polluted cities were in India, the report by IQAir noted.
India launched a ‘National Clean Air Programme’ (NCAP) in 2019 that commits to reduce air pollution in 102 most polluted cities by a maximum of 30% by 2024. The report, however, noted that the reduction in pollution in 2019 couldn’t be attributed to the NCAP but rather due to “slowing of the market place.” The economic growth rate in India is expected to slow down to 5% in 2019-20 from 6.1% in 2018-19 and 7% in 2017-18, according to the Economic Survey in January.
“Whilst cities in India, on average, exceed the World Health Organisation target for annual PM2.5 exposure by 500%, national air pollution decreased by 20% from 2018 to 2019, with 98% of cities experiencing improvements,” the report said.