HALF OF WORLD’S 20 MOST POLLUTED CITIES IN INDIA

Half of world’s 20 most polluted cities in India, Delhi in 11th positionFile photo of traffic at ITO, New Delhi, during the second phase of odd-even scheme. A WHO report says Zabol in Iran has overtaken New Delhi as world’s most polluted city.

Half of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in India, a World Health Organisation report released on Thursday, indicating industrial and vehicular exhaust were choking large parts of the country with little oversight or monitoring mechanism.The Capital is no longer the world’s most polluted city, dropping to 11th position with smaller towns galloping past Delhi to grab second and third spot.The top spot is taken by the Iranian city of Zabol that falls in the middle of a dust bowl. Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh take the second and third spot, respectively

The report considered annual average concentration of the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 in 3,000 cities from 103 countries. Delhi’s data is from 2013 and that for most Indian cities are from 2012.The previous WHO report – released two years ago that named Delhi as the world’s most polluted city -- used data till 2010.

The Capital’s pollution slightly improved PM 2.5 concentration falling from 153 micro gram per cubic metre of air in the previous WHO report to 122 but was still six times above the safety limit of 20.Tiny particulate matter can cause lung cancer, strokes and heart disease over the long term, as well as triggering symptoms such as heart attacks that kill more rapidly.

Prof. John Kurakar