Katihar, Bihar with AQI 360 tops list of most polluted Indian cities
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New Delhi: In 2022, India's air pollution levels grew worse. According to information provided by the Central Pollution Control Board, out of 163 Indian cities, Katihar in Bihar had the highest AQI (Air Quality Index), measuring 360 on November 7.
According to the data, Delhi's AQI was 354, Noida's was 328, and Ghaziabad's was 304. On Monday, the most polluted cities included Begusarai (Bihar), Ballabgarh, Faridabad, Kaithal, and Gurugram in Haryana, as well as Gwalior (MP).
The information serves as a warning for India. On Wednesday, the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) reported 3,634 field fires in Punjab, the most so far this year, NDTV reported.
Environment Minister Gopal Rai has urged the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to take action to reroute trucks carrying non-essential products onto nearby expressways in an effort to cut vehicle emissions and prevent congestion at the capital's borders.
Due to unfavourable transport-level winds, stubble burning's contribution to Delhi's PM2.5 pollution decreased from 30% on Friday to 21% on Saturday, according to Safar, a forecasting organisation under the Ministry of Earth and Sciences.
Farm fire smoke is carried to the National Capital Region by transport-level winds, which blow in the troposphere and stratosphere, the lowest two layers of the atmosphere.
The Air Quality Index (AQI), which is connected to chronic respiratory disorders, assesses the concentration of PM 2.5 levels, which are tiny particles smaller than 2.5 microns that can enter the bloodstream and reach the lungs and heart.
In addition to harming healthy lungs, breathing poisonous air has been discovered to hasten the death of people who already have respiratory ailments. According to Greenpeace, air pollution caused more than 1.2 million premature deaths in India in 2017.