An air quality report released by a Swiss organization reveals that India has the maximum number of polluted cities in the world. 30 cities around the world have been marked as the most polluted cities out of which 22 are in India.

The first polluted city in the world is Hotan in China. Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh stands on the 2nd step in the ladder of air pollution. While India has seen notable improvement in air pollution during the pandemic era, the pollution levels are still dangerously high.

The report by the Swiss organization IQAir says, “Every city in India observed air quality improvements compared to 2018, while 63% saw direct improvements against 2019. However, India continues to feature prominently at the top of the most polluted cities ranking with 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities globally.” The government’s focus is on tackling the problem of air pollution mainly in Delhi; there the Indo-Gangetic plains have recorded high concentrations of PM 2.5 especially during winters.

Apart from Hotan(China) and Ghaziabad(UP), 13 other cities on the top polluted list are also in India. Bulandshahar, Bisrakh Jalalpur, Noida, Greater Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Muzzafarnagar, Muzzafarpur, Meerut (all in UP), Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Delhi, Faridabad, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bandhwari, Gurugram, Yamunanagar, Dharuhera, Rohtak (Haryana) have been marked in India as the most polluted cities.

“The global burden of disease has time and again highlighted the massive health burden of air pollution on health and how it leads to premature mortality. I think it’s time that new technologies such as low cost air quality sensors should be used creatively to assess where air pollution exposure has reduced.... Such studies should cover rural areas and areas impacted by poverty...,” said Kalpana Balakrishnan, the director of the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Centre for Advanced Research on Air Quality, Climate and Health.

(media reports)