Delhi was the most polluted city in India in 2022 with PM 2.5 levels more than double the safe limit and with the third highest average PM10 concentration, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data.
But PM2.5 pollution in the Indian capital has reduced by over 7 per cent over four years, from 108 micrograms per cubic metre in 2019 to 99.71 micrograms per cubic metre in 2022, the report by NCAP Tracker said.
NCAP Tracker is a joint project of news portal Carbon Copy and a Maharashtra-based start-up, Respirer Living Sciences. It is designed to track India’s progress in achieving clean air targets.
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The Centre launched the National Clean Air Programme on January 10, 2019 to reduce PM2.5 and PM10 levels in 102 cities by 20-30 per cent by 2024 (with 2017 being the base year).
National pollution list
Some more cities were added to the list while some were dropped.
Now there are 131 cities which are called non-attainment cities as they did not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for 2011-15 under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme.
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In September 2022, the government set a new target of a 40 per cent reduction in particulate matter concentration by 2026.
Faridabad, Ghaziabad blues
Among the most polluted cities with respect to PM2.5 levels, Delhi (99.71 micrograms per cubic metre) ranked first, Faridabad in Haryana (95.64 micrograms per cubic metre) came second and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh (91.25 micrograms per cubic metre) stood third, according to the analysis of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
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PM2.5 is tiny particulate matter that is less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can enter the lungs and bloodstream.
Ghaziabad (217.57 micrograms per cubic metre) was the most polluted non-attainment city in the country in terms of PM10 levels, while Faridabad (215.39 micrograms per cubic metre) ranked second and Delhi (213.23 micrograms per cubic metre) stood third.
In 2021, Ghaziabad was the most polluted with respect to PM2.5 levels while it ranked third in terms of PM10 levels.
India’s current annual average safe limits for PM2.5 and PM10 are 40 micrograms per cubic metre and 60 micrograms per cubic metre respectively.
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