21 Indian cities among world's 30 most polluted; Delhi world's most polluted capital city: Report

New Delhi: Delhi topped the list of most polluted capital cities in the world in 2019, according to a new report which also revealed that 21 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are in India.

According to the World Air Quality Report 2019 compiled by IQAir Air Visual, Ghaziabad is the most polluted city in the world, followed by Hotan in China, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad in Pakistan and then Delhi in the fifth place.

The 21 Indian cities which are in world’s 30 most polluted cities, in the order of their ranking, are, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Noida, Gurugram, Greater Noida, Bandhwari, Lucknow, Bulandshahr, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat, Jind, Faridabad, Coraut, Bhiwadi, Patna, Palwal, Muzaffarpur, Hisar, Kutail, Jodhpur and Moradabad.

According to country-wise data, India ranked fifth in the world’s most polluted countries with Bangladesh on top of the list followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, and Afghanistan.

However, the report also mentions that Indian cities have shown improvement from last year.

“Whilst cities in India, on average, exceed the World Health Organisation (WHO) target for annual PM 2.5 exposure by 500 percent, national air pollution decreased by 20 percent from 2018 to 2019 with 98 percent of the cities experiencing improvement,” the report said.