While many steps have been taken to reduce air pollution at the national and state level, air pollution in Indian cities is getting worse every day. Keeping in mind the serious situation all Indian cities are, air pollution has taken over the entire country. Here is a shocking situation of air pollution in Indian cities.
The rise in air pollution in Indian cities has forced citizens to breathe poor quality of air. Especially in cities where people are choking on polluted air – have a detrimental impact on their health and wellbeing.
WHO Studied Air Pollution in Indian Cities
World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016, studied various factors contributing to air pollution in Indian cities. The study found that 22 out of 30 world’s polluted cities belongs to India. With the highest PM (particulate matter) 2.5 at 173, Kanpur emerged as the first city from India to be the most polluted among all the mentioned places.
It has been estimated that in 2016 alone, over 9 lakh deaths in India were caused due to air pollution. Faridabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow and Agra were some other cities with a higher concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5.
Read – Environmental Problems in Bihar Are Putting Lives at Stake
Country’s capital – New Delhi also gained a reputation for poor air quality all year along. In the past few years, there has been a numerous case where the city woke up with a thick blanket of smog. Due to which the capital was declared of public health emergencies. A number of flights and trains were canceled due to haze and unclear vision. Many schools were closed due to poor air quality in the city.
Sources of air pollution in Indian cities
There are multiple sources of air pollution and they can vary due to many underlying factors.
However, vehicular emissions and crop burning in multiple northern cities are the main cause of the rise in air pollution in the northern region of India. Depleting tree covers and poor management of waste and dumping is another reason for the declining air quality of the country.
Vehicular emissions, crop burning, generation of dust- particularly from construction sites, depleting tree covers and poor waste management – all contribute towards the declining air quality.
The real problem with combating air pollution at the city level is the rise in factors that contributes to the pollution level. For example, in Delhi – one of the major reason solely responsible for the speedy decline of air quality is the straw burning in neighboring states.
Here is a pie chart depicting the real culprit of air pollution in Indian cities.
