Delhi World's Most Polluted Capital Again, India Has 3rd Worst Air Quality: Report

According to the World Air Quality Report 2023 by Swiss organisation IQAir, Delhi has the poorest air while Bihar's Begusarai is said to be the world's most polluted metropolitan area.

Hazy view of Delhi amid rising pollution levels.

Delhi was identified as the capital city with the poorest air quality whereas Bihar's Begusarai emerged as the world's most polluted metropolitan area, a new report said. As per the World Air Quality Report 2023 by Swiss organisation IQAir, India had the third worst air quality out of 134 countries in 2023 with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 54.4 micrograms per cubic metre after Bangladesh (79.9 micrograms per cubic metre) and Pakistan (73.7 micrograms per cubic metre), news agency PTI reported.

In 2022, India was ranked as the eighth most polluted country with an average PM2.5 concentration of 53.3 micrograms per cubic metre. 

Begusarai has emerged as the most polluted metropolitan area globally, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 micrograms per cubic metre. The city did not even appear on the 2022 rankings. 

Delhi's PM2.5 levels worsened from 89.1 micrograms per cubic metre in 2022 to 92.7 micrograms per cubic metre in 2023. The national capital has been ranked the most polluted capital city in the world for four consecutive years starting from 2018, as per the report, stated PTI.

As per the World Air Quality Report 2023, 1.36 billion people in India as exposed to PM2.5 concentrations, this exceeds the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended annual guideline level of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

Also, 1.33 billion people, that’s about 96 per cent of the Indian population, experience over seven times the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline.

About 96 per cent of the Indian population, that’s around 1.33 billion people experience PM2.5 levels more than seven times the WHO annual PM2.5 guideline. This was seen in city-level data, more than 66 per cent of the country’s cities reported an annual average of more than 35 micrograms per cubic metre.

IQAir stated that the data used to create this report was aggregated from a global distribution of over 30,000 regulatory air quality monitoring stations and low-cost air quality sensors. These stations and sensors are operated by various entities, including research institutions, governmental bodies, universities, educational facilities, non-profit organizations, private companies, and citizen scientists.

According to PTI, in the 2022 World Air Quality Report data was taken from 131 countries, regions and territories. However, in the 2023 report, the numbers rose to 7,821 locations in 134 countries, regions and territories.

Effects Of Pollution On Human Life

As per the report, worldwide one in every nine deaths worldwide is caused by air pollution. It is the greatest threat to human health. According to the WHO, air pollution is responsible for an estimated seven million premature deaths worldwide every year. According to PTI, exposure to PM2.5 air pollution can lead to or worsen numerous health conditions such as asthma, cancer, stroke and lung disease.

In children, exposure to elevated levels of fine particles can affect cognitive development, lead to mental health issues and complicate existing illnesses, including diabetes,