India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) analysed the AQI bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and found that Delhi, in fact, does not feature among the 10 most polluted cities of India.
India Today Data Intelligence Unit (DIU) analysed the AQI bulletin provided by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and found that Delhi, in fact, does not feature among the 10 most polluted cities of India.
The average AQI calculated for 24 hours (November 3, 4 pm to November 4, 4 pm) showed that Jind in Haryana had the most toxic air among 97 cities analysed. Jind’s average AQI was 448. Delhi’s average AQI was 407.
A total of 15 cities had an average AQI above 400, which is ‘severe’ according to CPCB standards. Of these, nine are in Uttar Pradesh and five in Haryana, apart from Delhi. Eight UP cities followed Jind for having the most toxic air quality.
Jind was followed by Baghpat (AQI 440), Ghaziabad (440), Hapur (436), Lucknow (435), Moradabad (434), Noida (430), Greater Noida (428) and Kanpur (427) in UP, and Sirsa (426) in Haryana.
Despite unbearable smog, Delhi was not among the 10 most polluted cities in India even before Diwali. DIU had earlier reported that in the last week of October, cities in UP and Haryana fared worse than the Capital in AQI.
There are only four cities in India with ‘good’ air quality, of which two are in Kerala. Eloor, a suburb of Kochi in Kerala, recorded the best air quality with an AQI of 25. Eloor is followed by Thane near Mumbai (AQI 45), Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala (AQI 49) and Kota in Rajasthan (AQI 50).
Prasanta Patnaik