Delhi bagged the title of the most polluted city with the poorest air quality yet again according to a new report titles as World Air Quality Report 2023 published by Swiss Organization IQAir.
Also, Bihar’s Begusarai emerged as the world’s most polluted metropolitan area.
The report mentioned that India has ranked third in air pollution levels among 134 countries, following Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Last to last year. in 2022, India was placed as the eighth most polluted country globally.
Begusarai with an average of PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 micrograms per cubic meter, surpassed all the other metropolitan areas this year, despite not being included in the previous year’ s ranking.
From 89.1 to 92.7, Delhi’s pollution scale worsens
Delhi’s PM2.5 levels also worsened from 89.1 to 92.7 micrograms per cubic meter in 2023. Without fail this year too Delhi has held the crown for the most polluted capital city for the fourth consecutive year since 2018.
The report included a part indicating significant portion of India’s population around 1.36 billion people, are exposed to PM2.5 levels surpassing the WHO guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.
Moreover, 1.33 billion people, equivalent to 96 percent of the Indian population, are experiencing PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO standard by seven times.
This trend is seen at city level, with over 66 percent of Indian cities reporting annual averages above 35 micrograms per cubic meter.
The data compilation for this report is a compiled work from a wide network of air quality monitoring stations and sensors globally, involving various institutions, organizations and citizen scientists. Last year report expanded its coverage to include 7,812 locations in 314 countries compared to 7,323 locations in 131 countries in 2022.
Still, Air Pollution remains a critical and global issue, causing approximately one in nine deaths worldwide according to the report.
WHO- World Health Organization estimates that air pollution leads to seven million premature deaths annually, affecting individuals with various health conditions such as cancer, asthma, stroke and lung disease.
The exposure to high levels of PM 2.5 pollution can impact children’s cognitive development, mental health and worsen existing illnesses like diabetes.
