Mumbai has left Delhi behind to become the most polluted city in India. It is now in the second position worldwide between January 29 and February 8, according to the Swiss air tracking index IQAir (a real-time worldwide air quality monitor). Surprisingly, Delhi did not feature in the top 10 most-polluted cities list.
On February 2, Mumbai climbed at the top of the list before falling down again after a few days. Mumbai then again rose above in being the most polluted Indian city and the third most unhealthy city worldwide with regards to air quality.
Know all about IQAir
Swiss air tracking index IQAir in collaboration with UNEP and Greenpeace calculates air quality in India. It uses the data shared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It categorises the air quality as "healthy", "unhealthy" and "hazardous" as per US air quality index (AQI) standards.
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Mumbai air quality
As per the CPCB data, Mumbai had "poor" and "very poor" days in November-January during the current winter season, more than the previous three winters.
The dust was generated mostly through construction work and vehicular emissions.
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As per 2020 research by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and IIT-B, construction dust contributed to more than 71 percent of the particulate matter load in Mumbai’s air. The rest was attributed to factories, power plants, airports, and waste dumps.
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Here is a list of the 10 most polluted cities in the world
Lahore (Pakistan)
Mumbai (India)
Kabul (Afghanistan)
Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
Accra (Ghana)
Krakow (Poland)
Doha (Qatar)
Astana (Kazakhstan)
Santiago (Chile)
