NEW DELHI, 11 Mar: Thirteen of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India, with Byrnihat in Assam topping the list, according to a new report published on Tuesday.
The World Air Quality Report-2024 by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir said that Delhi remains the most polluted capital city globally, while India ranked as the world’s fifth most polluted country in 2024, marking an improvement from its third rank in 2023.
Four cities in neighbouring Pakistan and one in China are among
the world’s top 20 polluted cities.
The report said India saw a 7 percent decline in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, averaging 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, compared to 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023.
Yet, 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India.
The air pollution in Delhi has worsened, with the annual average PM2.5 concentration rising from 102.4 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023 to 108.3 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.
The Indian cities in the list of world’s top 20 most polluted cities are Byrnihat, Delhi, Punjab’s Mullanpur, Faridabad, Loni, Gurugram, Ganganagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh and Noida.
Overall, 35 percent of the Indian cities reported annual PM2.5 levels exceeding 10 times the World Health Organisation (WHO) limit of 5 micrograms per cubic metre, the report said.
The high level of pollution in Byrnihat, a town on the Assam-Meghalaya border, is due to emissions from local factories, including distilleries, iron and steel plants. (PTI)
