World Air Quality Report: India ranked at the 8th spot in the list of world's top 10 most polluted countries after SWISS firm IQAir released its 'World Air Quality Report' 2022. However, India improved its ranking as it dropped from 5th to 8th place.
Meanwhile, in the list of most polluted cities, 39 of 50 cities are in India.
Top 10 most polluted countries in world
| Rank | Top 10 most polluted countries in world |
| 1 | Chad |
| 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 which meet WHO PM2.5 guideline |
| Australia |
| Estonia |
| Finland |
| Grenada |
| Iceland |
| New Zealand |
The firm analysed its report after aggregating data from 131 countries based on 30,000 ground-based monitors.
What 'World Air Quality Report' 2022 reveals about India
- In India, the transportation sector contributed almost 20-35 per cent of the PM2.5 pollution. Other sources for worsening air quality are industrial units, coal-fired power plants and biomass burning.
- Delhi ranked 4th in the top 50 most polluted cities in the world. Lahore's Pakistan is the most polluted city, while Hotan in China ranked second. Rajasthan's Bhiwadi is in third place.
- Delhi's PM2.5 level is almost 20 times the safe limit, the report stated.
- Delhi has so far been the most polluted capital in the world and the report made a distinction between 'greater' Delhi and New Delhi the capital. 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 decline in pollution levels.
- The report said that there is a 34 per cent decline in Gurugram to 21 per cent in Faridabad if compared to the average PM2.5 levels reported in previous years.
- Delhi has seen a decline of eight per cent.
- According to the report, 31 cities including 10 cities in Uttar Pradesh and seven in Haryana, have seen a steep percentage decline in pollution levels.
- "A total of 38 cities and towns have seen a rise in pollution compared to an average of previous years," stated the report.
- As per the report, among the six metro cities, Kolkata was ranked the most polluted after Delhi. However, Chennai was stated to be the cleanest with pollution 'just' 5x the WHO's safe level. The metro cities -- Hyderabad and Bengalurua -- saw pollution levels uptick over the average since 2017.
"The total economic cost equates to over $8 trillion dollars, surpassing 6.1 per cent of the global annual GDP. Exposure to air pollution causes and aggravates several health conditions which include, but are not limited to, asthma, cancer, lung illnesses, heart disease, and premature mortality," the report said.
(With inputs from IANS)
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