Mumbai overtakes Delhi to become most-polluted Indian city
Mumbai most polluted city
Mumbai has left behind the national capital Delhi as the most-polluted city in India and is now in the second position worldwide between January 29 and February 8, according to the Swiss air tracking index IQAir (a real-time worldwide air quality monitor). On January 29, Mumbai was 10th in IQAir rankings in terms of poorest positions. Surprisingly, Delhi did not feature in the top 10 most-polluted cities list.
Mumbai then climbed to the top of the stack on February 2 before falling in the following days. Mumbai once again rose to take the second place on February 8. On February 13, Mumbai took over Delhi as the most polluted city in India and was the third most unhealthy city worldwide with regards to air quality.
What is IQAir?
Swiss air tracking index IQAir in collaboration with UNEP and Greenpeace, measures air quality in India using data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It categorises the air quality as "healthy", "unhealthy" and "hazardous" as per US air quality index (AQI) standards. Notably, the pollution standards used by America are more strict than India.
Air quality in Mumbai
The CPCB data suggests that Poor and Very Poor days in Mumbai in November-January during the current winter season were more than double over three previous winters.
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Dust generated from construction work and vehicular emissions formed a major part of this pollution in the city.
According to a 2020 research by National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and IIT-B, road or construction dust contributed to more than 71 per cent of the particulate matter load in Mumbai’s air. Factories, power plants, airports, and waste dumps generated the rest.
Top 10 most-polluted cities in the world
1. Lahore (Pakistan)
2. Mumbai (India)
3. Kabul (Afghanistan)
4. Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
5. Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
6. Accra (Ghana)
7. Krakow (Poland)
8. Doha (Qatar)
9. Astana (Kazakhstan)
10. Santiago (Chile)
(With inputs from agencies)
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