Delhi most polluted capital city, B'desh most polluted country

Delhi is the world's most polluted capital for the fourth consecutive year, with pollution rising almost 15 per cent over the previous year., according to the World Air Quality Report, prepared by Swiss organisation IQAir, released on Tuesday. As many as 35 of the 50 cities with the worst air quality were in India. However, the world's most polluted place is Rajasthan's Bhiwadi, followed by Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad. As many as 15 most polluted cities are in the country and mostly around the national capital, the study found.

The IQAir report, published after a survey of pollution data in 6,475 cities across the world, also revealed that not a single country managed to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) air quality standard in 2021, and smog even rebounded in some regions after a COVID-related dip. With 63, Indian cities dominate the list of 100 most polluted places. More than half are in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The major sources of air pollution include vehicular emissions, coal-fired power plants, industrial waste, biomass combustion for cooking and the construction sector.

Bangladesh was the most polluted country, also unchanged from the previous year, while Chad ranked second after the African country's data was included for the first time. China, which has been waging war on pollution since 2014, fell to 22nd in the PM2.5 rankings in 2021, down from 14th place a year earlier, with average readings improving slightly over the year to 32.6 micrograms, IQAir said. Hotan in the northwestern region of Xinjiang was China's worst-performing city, with average PM2.5 readings of more than 100 micrograms, largely caused by sandstorms.It fell to third on the list of the world's most polluted cities.