New Delhi: Not only on the international stage, the issue of environment has also come up in the budget session of Parliament. But India is by no means immune from the outbreak of pollution. Rather, in 2022, the name of the country came up as the eighth most polluted country in the world (Pollution Report). Last year it was ranked fifth in the list. The level of PM 2.5 in the air has come down to 53.3 micrograms per cubic meter this time, which is 10 times more than the standard set by the World Health Organization (World Pollution).
This list is made up of 131 countries
The ‘World Air Quality Report’ of 2022 has been published by the IQAir organization of Switzerland, in which India has been ranked eighth. The report is based on reports from environmental scientists and health experts on airborne dust. This list is made with a total of 131 countries. About 30,000 observers joined it.
Chad tops the list of most polluted countries. It is followed by Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Kuwait, India, Egypt and Tajikistan respectively. But overall, India has dropped from fifth to eighth place in the list, but the presence of various Indian cities in the list is noteworthy. A total of 7,300 polluted cities have been mentioned in the report, which is the highest ever. In 2017, 2 thousand 200 cities were mentioned. However, the various cities of India are facing pollution.
The calculation of the loss of India due to air pollution in the report is alarming. It has been said that India has to bear damages of 15 thousand billion dollars for air pollution. Traffic is most responsible for this. Traffic is responsible for 20 to 35 percent of PM 2.5 in the air. It is followed by industrial plants, thermal power plants and bio-combustion.
However, while Delhi has always been named the most polluted city, this time the line is drawn between the city of Greater Delhi and the capital, New Delhi. Both are mentioned in the top 10, but New Delhi comes second. Chad’s N’Djamina has been named the world’s most polluted capital. But while Enjamina has a population of less than 10 lakhs, Delhi has a population of over 40 lakhs.
Identified as the epicenter of pollution in South Asia
On the other hand, Delhi tops the list of metropolitan cities. . After that is Kolkata. It is followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai respectively. Pakistan’s Lahore and China’s Hotan emerged as the most polluted cities in the world. Bhiwadi in Rajasthan is on the third place after that. Delhi is at the fourth position. The amount of particulate matter in Delhi’s air was 92.6 micrograms, 20 times the safe level. South Asia has been identified as the center of pollution in the report.
