Delhi world’s most polluted capital: Report

NEW DELHI: Delhi is the most polluted

capital

in the world, while Gurgaon is the most polluted city, revealed a Greenpeace report.

According to the latest data compiled in the IQAir AirVisual 2018 World Air Quality Report and interactive world’s most polluted cities ranking, prepared in collaboration with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, to reveal the state of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in 2018, Delhi had an average yearly PM2.5 concentration at 113.5 micrograms per cubic metre, followed by Dhaka at 97.1 micrograms per cubic metre. Kabul was at the third spot with 61.8 micrograms per cubic metre.

However, in terms of cities, Delhi takes the no 11 spot, as Gurgaon took no 1 spot with an annual average PM2.5 reading of 135.8 micrograms per cubic metre. Ghaziabad is no 2 with 135.2 micrograms per cubic metre and Faisalabad in Pakistan is third with 130.4 micrograms per cubic metre. Faridabad, Bhiwadi, Noida take the next three spots with average PM2.5 readings of 129.1, 125.4 and 123.6 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.

According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the annual permissible limit for PM2.5 is 40ug/m3. The annual permissible limits prescribed by the World Health Organization are even lower at 10ug/m3.

“This report is based on 2018 air quality data from public monitoring sources, with a focus on data which has been published in real-time or near real-time. These sources include government monitoring networks, as well as validated data from air quality monitors operated by private individuals and organisations,” the report stated.