Top 10 Polluted Cities of India (2023)
The NCAP began on January 10, 2019. It states that 131 non-attainment cities not meeting the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for the period of 2011-15 have to level down their pollution levels from the 2017 baseline by 25-30%. The Centre in September 2022 set a target of reducing pollution by 40% with a deadline of 2026.
Delhi seems to be lagging behind the deadline, recording only a 7% reduction in its PM2.5 level.
This was shown when the data was compared to the 2019 levels, the analysis was based on Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The annual national safe limit for PM2.5 is 40µg/m3.
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Cities in India have been trying to reduce their PM2.5 levels though the top ten which have failed to do so are present here in the list of India’s Most Polluted Cities (2023).
While Delhi is at the top of the list of most polluted cities, Faridabad ranks second with an annual PM2.5 concentration of 95.6µg/m3. Ghaziabad is third with a reading of 91.25µg/m3.
