Air pollution latest news: A day after people celebrated Diwali by flouting rules and bursting firecrackers, a thick blanket of smog enveloped Delhi and its surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) on Monday. However, Delhi was not the only city where people forgot about the ban on crackers. The national capital was joined by 2 more metro cities after which they featured in the list of the world’s most polluted cities.
Indian Cities Which Featured in World’s Top 10 Polluted Post Diwali
Delhi: The National capital Delhi was the most polluted Indian city and bagged the top spot globally. According to Swiss group IQAir, Delhi’s air quality stood at 430 after Diwali. For the unversed, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and above 450 ‘severe plus’.
Kolkata: With an AQI of 206, Kolkata took the third spot after Pakistan’s Lahore. As per the reading of air monitoring stations, the air quality index (AQI) was 216 (PM 2.5) at Rabindra Sarobar, 257 at Ballygunje, 276 at Victoria Memorial, 267 at Jadavpur, 255 at Fort William, 243 at Bidhannagar, 183 at Rabindra Bharati University and 262 at Ghusuri. All reading were classified as poor.
Mumbai: Financial capital Mumbai took the 8th spot with an AQI of 163. Some of the worst-hit areas of the city with ‘poor’ AQI included Deonar (157), Bandra East (155), Nerul and Powai (151 each), Bandra Kurla Complex (139), Sion (134), Borivali East and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (127 each), Juhu (124), Vile Parle West (122), Mahape and Worli’s Siddharth Nagar (112 each), Bhandup West and Bandra West (107 each), and Malad (105).
World’s top 10 most polluted cities
Too toxic to breathe
In Delhi, the Anand Vihar station was in the ‘severe’ category with PM 10 at 500 and PM 2.5 at 473 while the CO was at 131, under ‘moderate’ category, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). At the Bawana station PM 2.5 reached 469, in the severe category and PM 10 at 376 was in the ‘very poor’ category, while the CO reached 78, in satisfactory levels and NO2 at 12, in the ‘good’ category.
At the Dwarka sector-8 station, the PM 2.5 reached 444, in the severe category while PM 10 was at 360 under the ‘very poor’ category on Monday morning.
The air quality at the Indira Gandhi International Airport T3 area was in the ‘severe’ category with PM 2.5 at 431 and PM 10 at 295, in the ‘poor’ category.
At ITO station, the PM 2.5 crossed over 500, in the severe plus category while PM 10 was recorded at 457 in the severe category. The NO2 reached 121 in the moderate category while CO was at 92, in satisfactory levels.
The PM 2.5 at Jahangirpuri was recorded at 486 while PM 10 reached 420, placing both under ‘severe’ category. Carbon monoxide (CO) reached 84, in ‘satisfactory’ levels and NO2 was at 11, in the ‘good’ category.
At north campus Delhi University station, the PM 2.5 reached 457 and PM 10 at 405, in the ‘severe’ category while the CO was at 89, in a ‘satisfactory’ level.