Delhi most polluted capital in world; 63 Indian cities in top 100: Report
PremiumOn the global front, the report finds that only three per cent of cities and no single country met the latest WHO's PM2.5 annual air quality guidelines
Delhi continued to be the most polluted capital city in the world for the fourth consecutive year in 2021, with a 14.6% increase in PM2.5 concentrations, according to a new report that analyzed real-time air quality data from tens of thousands of monitoring stations.
The levels of PM2.5 rose to 96.4 micrograms per cubic meter from 84 micrograms per cubic meter in 2020 in Delhi, as per the World Air Quality Report 2021, prepared by Swiss organization IQAir and released globally on Tuesday.
Based on air quality data from 6,475 cities in 117 countries, the report stated that 63 of the 100 cities with the worst air quality were in India. In 2021, none of the cities in India met the prescribed World Health Organization air quality standards of 5 micrograms per cubic meter
“India also continues to feature prominently among the most polluted cities with 35 of the top 50 most polluted cities being in this country. India's annual average PM2.5 levels reached 58.1 μg/m3 in 2021, ending a three-year trend of improving air quality," read the report.
“India's annual PM2.5 averages have returned to pre-quarantine concentrations as measured in 2019. Alarmingly, in 2021, none of the Indian cities met the prescribed WHO standards of 5 μg/m3," it added.
The report also revealed that 48% of Indian cities exceeded 50 μg/m3 air quality level which is well over 10 times the WHO guidelines.
It mentioned that among the most polluted capital cities, Dhaka ranked second after Delhi, followed by N’Djamena in Chad, Dushanbe in Tajikistan and Muscat in Oman.
Commenting on IQAir's recent data, Avinash Chanchal, the campaign manager at Greenpeace India said the report is a wake-up call for governments and corporations.
"It is once again highlighting that people are breathing dangerously polluted air. Vehicular emissions are one of the major contributors to urban PM2.5 concentrations. With annual vehicle sales in India expected to increase, it is certainly going to impact air quality if corrective measures are not taken in time," Chanchal said.
He asserted that air pollution has a massive impact on human health and is a major indicator of the accelerating climate catastrophe.
He called for switching to cleaner fuels and the promotion of renewable energy for transportation.
On the global front, the report finds that only three per cent of cities and no single country met the latest WHO's PM2.5 annual air quality guidelines.
In September 2021, the World Health Organization issued guidelines that cut acceptable annual exposure to PM2.5 in half, to 5 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
The report ranked the air in Bangladesh as the world’s most polluted in 2021, with PM2.5 concentrations of 76.9 micrograms per cubic meter. “Central and South Asia had some of the world’s worst air quality and was home to 46 of the world’s 50 most polluted cities," it stated.
The cleanest air was found in the South Pacific island nation of New Caledonia (3.8), while Finland had the lowest PM2.5 concentrations among developed nations (5.5).
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