India is home to 22 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world, according to the annual IQAir World Air Quality Report, 2020. The report, featuring 4,700 cities which has been released globally, is based on PM2.5 data from 106 countries, calculated by ground-based monitoring stations, handled by government agencies mostly. It also recorded the improvements in air quality compared with 2019.
An unexpected dip in air pollution in 2020Compared to north Indian cities, the cities in the Deccan recorded relatively better air quality, remained above the daily WHO limits of 25 g/m3 for most part of 2020."The year 2020 brought an unexpected dip in air pollution. In 2021, we will likely see an increase in air pollution due to human activity, again. We hope this report will highlight that urgent action is both possible and necessary to combat air pollution, which remains the world's greatest environmental health threat," said CEO of IQAir Frank Hammes.
Delhi, top polluted city in the worldThe yearly report shows boost in Delhi's air quality by approximately 15% from 2019 to 2020. However, despite the improvement, Delhi has been listed as the 10th most polluted city and the top polluted capital city in the world.
South Indian cities better in terms of air pollutionLast year, all Indian cities experienced air quality improvements compared to 2018, while 63% saw improvements compared with 2019.South Indian cities remained above the daily WHO limit of 25 g/m3 for most of 2020 and registered a far better air quality than the cities situated in northern India.Hyderabad for instance, recorded an average 11% dip in PM2.5 levels. But sadly it was only 61.7% of the days.
None of the Indian cities touched the WHO-accepted annual limitNone of the Indian cities touched the WHO-accepted annual limit of 10 g/m3. Hyderabad's annual average stands at 34.7 g/m3, which is thrice the prescribed limit. Also, the city's PM 2.5 levels in December 2020 surpassed the January 2020 levels, indicating that the 'better air quality' has already faded away. "Citizens from south Indian cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai are also breathing polluted air. If you see the data, all these three cities are not meeting WHO's standard for PM2.5 air pollution. Despite reduction in air pollution level in 2020, around half of the days, the air of these cities was above the WHO safe limit." said Avinash Chanchal, Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace India.
Main causes of pollution in IndiaThe main causes for India's air pollution include vehicular emission, biomass burning for cooking, electricity generation, smoke released from industries, landfill fire, and episodic agricultural burning. The transportation sector is considered the chief contributor to India's leading PM2.5 emission sources across cities.