World Air Quality Report: India ranks 8th in the list of top 10 most polluted countries in the world after SWISS firm IQAir released its ‘World Air Quality Report’ 2022. However, India improved its ranking as it moved from 5th to 8th position.
At the same time, 39 out of 50 cities in the list of most polluted cities are from India.
10 most polluted countries in the world
| Post | 10 most polluted countries in the world |
| 1 | piece of paper |
| 2 | Iraq |
| 3 | Pakistan |
| 4 | Bahrain |
| 5 | Bangladesh |
| 6 | Burkina Faso |
| 7 | Kuwait |
| 8 | India |
| 9 | Egypt |
| 10 | Tajikistan |
Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan were the top 10 most polluted countries while Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland and New Zealand met the World Health Organization (WHO) PM2. .5 guideline (annual average of 5 Aug/m3 or less).
| Countries that meet WHO PM2.5 guideline |
| Australia |
| Estonia |
| Finland |
| Grenada |
| Iceland |
| new zealand |
The firm analyzed its report after collecting data from 131 countries based on 30,000 ground-based monitors.
What the ‘World Air Quality Report’ 2022 tells us about India
- In India, the transport sector contributes about 20-35 per cent to PM2.5 pollution. Other sources of air quality deterioration are industrial units, coal-fired power plants and biomass burning.
- Delhi ranks fourth among the top 50 most polluted cities in the world. Pakistan’s Lahore is the most polluted city, while China’s Hotan is in second place. Bhiwadi of Rajasthan is at the third place.
- The report states that Delhi’s PM2.5 level is almost 20 times higher than the safe limit.
- Delhi has so far been the world’s most polluted capital and the report has drawn a distinction between ‘big’ Delhi and the capital city of New Delhi. Both are in the top 10 and the infamous distinction of being the world’s most polluted capital goes to Chad’s N’Djamena.
- Meanwhile, NCR regions including Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad have seen a drop in pollution levels.
- The report said that compared to the average PM 2.5 levels reported in previous years, there was a decline of 34 per cent in Gurugram and 21 per cent in Faridabad.
- Delhi has seen a drop of eight per cent.
- According to the report, 31 cities, including 10 cities in Uttar Pradesh and seven cities in Haryana, have seen a drastic drop in pollution levels.
- “A total of 38 cities and towns have seen an increase in pollution as compared to the average of previous years,” the report said.
- According to the report, among the six metro cities, Kolkata was ranked the most polluted followed by Delhi. However, Chennai was reported to be the cleanest with pollution ‘just’ 5 times the WHO’s safe level. The metro cities – Hyderabad and Bengaluru – saw pollution levels above average since 2017.
“The total economic cost is equivalent to more than $8 trillion dollars, which is more than 6.1 percent of global annual GDP. Exposure to air pollution causes and exacerbates many health conditions, including asthma, cancer, lung cancer, diseases, including, but not limited to, heart disease.” , and premature death,” the report said.
,With inputs from IANS,
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