If we look at India in general, Delhi, the capital of the country, is always in discussion for air pollution. But the data that has come out this time is very shocking and according to this new data, Delhi is not included in the list of top 10 most polluted cities in Asia. According to the statistics released by the World Air Pollution AQI (Air Pollution AQI Level) on Monday, this list includes 5 cities in China, one in Mongolia and four in India.
According to the new statistics, Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, is at the very top of this list. The most hazardous level of pollution was observed in Gandhinagar with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 723. The report includes Pan Bazar, Guwahati (665), Khindipada-Bhandup West Mumbai (471) and Bhopal Char Rasta, Dewas (315) after Gandhinagar.
The report also said that the air in Delhi-NCR this winter was cleaner than ever and the cleanest since 2018. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51-100 moderate, 101-150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 151-200 unhealthy, 201-300 very unhealthy and 300+ ‘hazardous’ according to an index scale defined by the US-EPA 2016 criteria. .
The Center for Science and Environment (CSE), in its new analysis of air pollution levels, has claimed that the Delhi-NCR region has seen the cleanest air this winter since the large-scale measures taken in 2018. The CSE report said that the World Air Quality Index project, launched in 2007, aims to raise awareness among citizens about air pollution and provide integrated and global air quality information. Delhi recorded 160 micrograms per cubic meter during the October-January period, the lowest since wide-scale monitoring began in 2018-19. It also said that the PM 2.5 level calculated by averaging monitoring data from 36 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) located in the city was 17 percent lower than the winter seasonal average of 2018-19. Based on a subset of the 10 oldest stations, the improvement is about 20 percent. It also said that the number of days with severe or very severe air quality was the lowest in the past five years. The report said the city averaged about 10 days in the ‘severe’ or worse category this winter, down from 24 days last winter and 33 days in the winter of 2018-19.