Delhiites woke up to an even polluted air on the morning of Diwali on Monday, as the air quality inched closed to ‘very poor’ category. The national capital became the “most polluted city” in the world with AQI 170 according to World AQI report formulated by Switzerland’s IQAir. The report also showed Vietnam’s Hanoi city trailing close behind at 159 in terms of poor air quality. According to the report, AQI between 151 to 200 qualified as “very unhealthy”. Another Indian city to make it to the list of worst air quality was Mumbai with an AQI of 161.
According to IMD, Delhi reported a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 298 on Diwali morning. However, Delhi’s AQI stood at 301 at 8 am on Monday. According to a PTI report, the dip in Delhi’s air quality was caused by unfavourable weather conditions, which allowed accumulation of pollutants. The report also held firecrackers and crop residue-burning responsible for the AQI recorded on Diwali morning.
Here is a list of top 10 cities with worst air quality according to the World AQI report (the Index is dynamic and the following data lists cities at the time of filing this story)
- Delhi, India
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Lahore, Pakistan
- Chengdu, China
- Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Skopje, North Macedonia
- Bishkek, Kyrgyztan
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Chongqing, China
- Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday cited a report and claimed that Delhi isn’t one of the 8 cities from India that are among the “most polluted” list. Delhi was considered to be one of the “most polluted cities in the world” but not anymore, he said.
Kejriwal posted the media report on Twitter and wrote, “Among 10 most polluted cities in Asia, eight are from India and Delhi not in the list. Some years back, Delhi was the most polluted city in the world. Not any more!” He further added, “People of Delhi worked very hard. Today, we have improved a lot. While we have improved, its still a long way. We will continue working hard so that we find a place in the best cities of the world,” Kejriwal said. “We are committed to making Delhi the best city in the world.”
However, the CM later tweeted saying he isn’t satisfied with Delhi not being world’s most polluted city. After his tweets drew some backlash, he posted again saying he aims to see Delhi become world’s cleanest city.
After my tweets today, some people asking -hv we won war against pollution n am I satisfied? Not at all. It is encouraging that we r no more world’s most polluting city. It encourages us that we r on right track. However, we hv to become world’s cleanest city. Thats our goal— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 24, 2022
A day before on Sunday, Delhi had reported a 24-hour average AQI of 259, which was lowest for the day before Diwali in seven years. However, pollution levels crept up at night as burst firecrackers in several parts of the city. Cases of stubble burning jumped to 1,318, the highest this season so far, the report added.
Among all areas of the national capital, Anand Vihar station reported “severe” pollution levels (AQI 401). Meanwhile, 20 of the 35 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded the air quality in the “very poor” category
The Delhi administration had on Saturday issued an order banning private construction in Anand Vihar and neighbouring areas considering the spike in air pollution levels there.
The neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (302), Noida (302), Greater Noida (285), Gurugram (271) and Faridabad (256) reported poor to very poor air quality. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.
(With PTI Inputs)
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment