New Delhi is ranked 11th; 20 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India
The latest WHO ranking of cities based on ambient air quality released on May 2 lists eight Indian cities as the top most polluted cities in the world. Furthermore, the list of the top 30 most polluted cities in the world has 20 Indian cities on the list.
Of the cities, Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh tops the list, followed by Kanpur, Faridabad and Allahabad. Varanasi ranks sixth on the list, while Gaya, Patna, Raipur and New Delhi follow. Muzaffarpur is listed 14th on the list.
Late last year, Greenpeace India, as part of its Airpocalypse-II Report, had complied data from 280 cities across the country. The data highlighted that more than 80% cities had pollution levels beyond National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) set up by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Interestingly in 2016, the WHO report contains data for only 32 Indian cities. This is despite the Central Pollution Control Board and State Pollution Control Boards monitoring air quality data for 300 cities across the country. Experts have cited this as lack of readily available data in the public domain.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Environment and Forest has identified 100 non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). However, the NCAP misses three of the 20 most polluted cities highlighted in the WHO report, namely Gaya, Patna and Muzzaffarpur.
Sunil Dahiya, Senior Campaigner, Greenpeace India said, “The WHO report clearly underplays the situation by mixing up data from many years. In reality the situation in India is much worse. It’s imperative that the NCAP has clear targets for pollution reduction and interim milestones.”
The report also reveals an alarming death toll of 7 million people every year caused by ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution. “Air pollution alone caused 4.2 million deaths in 2016. The highest air pollution levels are in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and in South-East Asia, with annual mean levels often exceeding more than 5 times WHO limits,” the report adds.
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