[volkman10]

India on Top of the World!!!

In 2021, Delhi most polluted capital in world, no Indian city met WHO air quality standard.

Of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021, 12 were in India. New Delhi saw a 14.6 per cent increase in PM2.5 concentration in 2021, 96.4 Ig/m3, up from 84 Ig/m3 in 2020.

New Delhi has been ranked the world’s most polluted capital city for second consecutive year followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), N’Djamena (Chad), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Muscat (Oman).

The annual PM2.5 concentration averages in 48 per cent of India’s cities, exceeded 50 Ig/m3 or more than 10 times the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines.




Link

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by volkman10

In 2021, Delhi most polluted capital in world, no Indian city met WHO air quality standard.

Of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021, 12 were in India. New Delhi saw a 14.6 per cent increase in PM2.5 concentration in 2021, 96.4 Ig/m3, up from 84 Ig/m3 in 2020.

This 14.6% increase is AFTER spending 2 months in a complete lockdown, where all flights, all construction and most factories were shut, pan India.

[PreludeSH]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Guys who the hell is this Kuwaiti town "Ali Subah" ???

India should complain to the United Nations that this creepy town is spoiling our perfect record of achieving 15 out of 15. Here for the first time we could have topped the world list 15 out of 15 in something and trust the Kuwaiti's to come and spoil our moment of glory.

Now it looks like China-Pakistan nexus has spoiled us getting all the spoils
Will be interesting to see how Punjab-Delhi smog relationship will get tackled since the control rests with single party.

I believe most of the pollution is due to our outdated, non-standardized construction methods, improper road/landscape in cities. Added to this colossal wastage of water to keep cleaning things from dust and muck.

[vinu_h]

Our country will only become clean when a sense of patriotism & self discipline comes into us & we accept India as MY country & that it's MY responsibility to keep her clean. While a push isn't necessary, GoI's marketing team could consider delivering the message appropriately.

The only ads from GoI I recall seeing so far on similar lines was "keep it clean for our tourists". The ad with a kid peeing on a bridge, spitting of gutkha from a car window, throwing banana peel from a car etc. Old one if I'm not wrong. The message in the ad was keep it clean for others, and not for ourselves.

Right now the situation is the exact opposite. If you do not spit or litter in public, you get told that you need to learn to be an Indian.

[Kosfactor]

From purely a GDP perspective in terms of energy spent in making things for the rest of the world China should be on top unless they are running on some Kryptonite to create their electricity.

Perhaps they did not get any data from China that is real.

Meanwhile WHO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, I can only imagine their perspective of health and well-being. Money comes from ATM, food comes from supermarket.

[Nissan1180]

The pollution levels in the congested part of many cities is worse than reported. So many small towns don’t have any pollution measurement devices, no planning, no CNG and ancient vehicles that sometimes run on adulterated fuel. Garbage is burnt everywhere with impunity. Forest fires are becoming common and go unreported- we recently saw burning hills near Nashik.

India is doing well in terms of renewable energy. However, the complete lack of education and interest about pollution and its effects on human health amongst the municipality and panchayats means that living conditions cannot improve at least in the next decade.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by volkman10

A person from Ramanathapuram in TN just told me "All cities are in North India so why should I worry?"

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by srini1785

A person from Ramanathapuram in TN just told me "All cities are in North India so why should I worry?"

Well, wait until his car gets it's useful life reduced when draconian NGT rules spread from NCR to rest of the country.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by srini1785

A person from Ramanathapuram in TN just told me "All cities are in North India so why should I worry?"

Am also wondering about the quality of monitoring in cities. Followed some links from a news article and found a report that was used in the Lok Sabha as an answer to a question about air pollution. Bangalore apparently had all days of the year in 2019, 2020, and 2021 where the air quality was 'good' (aqi<200). Now while I understand that Bangalore certainly is better than Delhi when it comes to AQI, I find this 'all good days' really hard to believe. Just wondering how good the monitoring is here.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by srini1785

A person from Ramanathapuram in TN just told me "All cities are in North India so why should I worry?"

Quite true, most polluted cities are in Asia so why should the developed world care?

Hurricanes hit the coastal areas so why should others care?

Floods batter NE India, so why should rest of India care?

[clevermax]

As per IQAir, the whole of India is having very good air quality as of now, and I wish it is true



https://www.iqair.com/in-en/earth

[am1m]

In Mumbai for a week and the difference between air quality here and Bangalore is very perceptible and visible. Bangalore was much better but even there it was perceptible, since I was there after spending a few months in small towns along the west coast. Can't imagine what Delhi must be like at this time.

We can find fault with whatever reporting, say it is for an agenda, stay indoors in air conditioned comfort, use ac in cars, and we'll get used to anything I suppose, however bad the air becomes. But we're kidding ourselves if we think the air in our cities that we and our kids breathe is anywhere near ok.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by am1m

In Mumbai for a week and the difference between air quality here and Bangalore is very perceptible and visible.

So it wasn't just my imagination:

https://indianexpress.com/article/ex...terns-8316299/

"The most important reason for this could be the changes that are being observed in Mumbai’s natural cleansing system — its wind patterns. Dr Beig said wind speeds in Mumbai were distinctly slower this year, reducing its ability to sweep away pollutants."

“We do not fully understand why this is happening, but the wind speeds have declined this year. It needs to be investigated further. But the decline in wind speeds is significant enough to hamper its ability to blow away pollutants. This is one of the biggest reasons for the bad air quality in Mumbai,” he said."

"Another reason for the rise in air pollution in Mumbai could be an increase in the levels of emissions, possibly from construction activities. Large infrastructure projects, like the Mumbai Metro or the Coastal Road Project, which have seen increased activity in the last few months, could be generating significantly higher amounts of pollutants."
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I usually visit Mumbai at around the same time each year, and certainly I felt that this year the haze and air was significantly worse.

Back in the region and one of the smaller towns that have been more or less my base since June 2020, thanks to remote work. And must say am literally breathing easier now.

I think it's high time we start thinking about air pollution in our cities seriously and how it affects our lives.