The city of Begusarai in Bihar is the most polluted city in the world, according to the World Air Quality Report 2023 released by IQAir, a Switzerland-based organization. The report states that out of the top 100 most polluted places globally, 83 are from India. After Begusarai, Guwahati is the second most polluted, followed by Delhi at third place and Mullanpur (Punjab) at fourth.
At a national level, India ranks third behind Bangladesh and Pakistan among the five most polluted countries in the list of 134 nations.
India’s PM2.5 level of 54.4 µg/m3 is more than 10 times higher than the WHO annual guideline, the report highlighted. PM2.5 refers to hazardous fine particulate matter.
The South Asia region was home to the top 10 most polluted cities worldwide. Factors like climate conditions and trans-boundary haze majorly contributed to rising PM2.5 levels across South-East Asia.
Only 7 out of 134 countries met the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline, including Australia, New Zealand and Iceland.
While the number of countries monitoring air quality has increased, the report noted significant gaps in government-operated monitoring systems in many parts of the world.
Low-cost monitors hosted by citizen scientists and local organizations are helping reduce these gaps in air monitoring networks globally.
Commenting on the findings, IQAir’s CEO Frank Hammes stated that access to air quality data saves lives and spurs decisive action to improve air quality.
Greenpeace highlighted that the data serves as an important reminder of air pollution’s health catastrophe and the need to urgently implement solutions.
With only 9% of cities achieving WHO PM2.5 guidelines, the report underscores that much more efforts are needed globally to combat the health and environmental impacts of air pollution.
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