New Delhi: According to the 2024 World Air Quality Report of Eckear released on Tuesday, Bayranihat in Meghalaya was the most polluted metropolitan area globally.
Byrnihat reported an annual average PM2.5 level 128.2 micrograms per cubic meter (/g/m3), which was 25 times higher than the WHO-Recommended level and three times higher than the Indian environmental air quality standards. High air pollution levels in the city of low-knowledge Meghlayan can be attributed to rapid industrialization, irregular emissions, construction and deforestation.
Although India improved its overall ranking to finish the third most polluted to fifth place in 2023 last year, six out of the 10 most polluted cities in the world and 13 out of the 20 most polluted cities globally had a suspected record of 13, with Delhi to be the most polluted capital in the world in 2024.
Very few known Biranihat
A report analyzing data of an important pollutant matter 2.5 (PM2.5) from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations at 8,954 places in 138 countries, Chad – as a Central African country – as the most polluted country last year, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Congo and India have passed the assessable boundary for that pollist.
Only seven countries – Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland and New Zealand – who met the annual average PM2.5 guideline level 5 micrograms/m3.
As far as India is concerned, the report found that the country reported more than 26% of the annual average PM2.5 concentration of 50.6/g/m3 in 2024 than 26% of the acceptable polluting limit as compared to the WHO PM2.5 annual guidelines and dangerous pollutants according to the Indian national environmental air quality standards.
The report shows that India saw a decline of 7% in PM2.5 concentrations in 2024, an average of 50.6/g/m3, but the capital, New Delhi, in 2023, with an annual average of 91.6 μg/m3, in around 92.7g/m3.
“Overall, 35% of Indian cities reported more than the annual PM2.5 average 10 times, which are guidelines,” it is called. In 2024, air quality data was reported from 371 cities in 11 countries, with India the most monitored, hosting more than half of the people in the Central and South Asia region. The region was home to the top nine most polluted cities in the world with six of them in India last year.
Citing the Air Quality Life Index released by the University of Chicago in 2023, the IQAAR report states that air pollution is an important health burden in India, which reduces life expectancy for an estimated 5.2 years.
PM2.5, which is smaller than 2.5 micrometers, is considered the most dangerous air pollutant. It can be deposited in the lungs, leading to respiratory problems and other health problems.
