The list of the world’s 20 most polluted cities has been revealed. This list includes 13 cities from India alone. Among them, the most polluted city is Burnie Haat in Meghalaya. According to the report released by IQ Air, Delhi remains the most polluted capital in the world. Meanwhile, in terms of countries, India is the 5th most polluted country in the world. This data has been released for the year 2024, while in 2023, India was in third place. Thus, there has been a slight improvement in the issue of pollution. The report says that India has seen a decrease of up to 7% in the density of PM 2.5 particles. Meanwhile, if we talk about the top-10 cities, 6 of them are in India alone.

The 13 cities in India that have been considered the most polluted are cities from Punjab to Meghalaya. In this list, Burnie Haat is at the first place, while Delhi is at the second place. Apart from this, Punjab’s Mallanpur is at the third place. Faridabad is at the fourth place. Then comes Loni in Ghaziabad, New Delhi, Gurugram, Ganga Nagar, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, Muzaffarnagar, Hanumangarh and Noida. In total, 35% of Indian cities have PM 2.5 levels that are 10 times higher than the list prepared by the WHO. The World Health Organization’s limit is 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

According to the report, air pollution in India has been a constant cause of concern and is also a major health risk. This is reducing the life expectancy of the people of India by an average of 5.2 years. According to the Lancet Health Study, 1.5 million deaths from 2009 to 2019 were due to their high exposure to PM 2.5 pollution.

PM 2.5 refers to airborne particulate matter that affects the lungs. It can cause respiratory problems. It is often associated with heart disease and can even cause cancer. The report claims that vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions and burning of crops and wood are the main causes of air pollution.