Delhi Is Not the Most Polluted City In the World Anymore

Delhi now ranks 11th among 3,000 cities according to a recent WHO report on urban air quality.

File photo of a smoggy day in Delhi. Image used for representational purpose. (Photo: Reuters)

New Delhi is no longer the most polluted city in the world, The Times of India reported, citing a recent World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Delhi is not the most polluted city in the world anymore. (Photo: Rahul Gupta/The Quint)

“Delhi now ranks 11th among 3,000 cities in 103 countries in terms of PM 2.5 (fine, particulate pollution) and 25th in terms of PM 10 (coarse pollution particles) levels.” the TOI report said.

However, four out of the five cities that feature in cities with the worst air pollution are Indian, the WHO said on Thursday. The cities include Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna and Raipur.

Zabol in Iran is the most polluted city, according to the survey. It suffers from months of dust storms in the summer, and clocked a so-called PM 2.5 measure of 217. Tiny particulate matter can cause lung cancer, strokes and heart disease over the long term, as well as triggering symptoms such as heart attacks that kill more rapidly

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to congratulate Delhiites. Kejriwal, in the last few months, has strongly backed the odd-even scheme in Delhi to combat the rising levels of air pollution plaguing the city.

New Delhi was ranked the worst city in 2014 with a PM 2.5 reading of 153.

On an average, pollution levels worsened by 8 percent between 2008 and 2013, although most cities in rich countries improved the state of their air over the same period.

The WHO data, a survey of 3,000 urban areas, shows only 2 percent of cities in poorer countries have air quality that meets WHO standards while 44 percent of richer cities do.

(With inputs from Reuters)