Context: Swiss based technology company IQAir has published the annual city-wise air quality report for 2022.
Key Data Stats from the Report
- There were six Indian cities in the top 10 with the most polluted air globally, 14 in the top 20, 39 in the top 50 and 65 in the top 100 — up from 61 in the previous year.
- India had the eighth-most polluted air on average, the report added.
- The worst-affected cities from India on the list are all from the northern part of the country, especially the densely populated Indo-Gangetic Plain, stretching from Punjab in the west-to-West Bengal in the east.
- The reasons behind the high-levels of air pollution in northern India are multi-sectoral. Sources of air pollution include industry, power plants, vehicles, open burning of waste, use of solid fuels by poor households and dust sources.
- Adverse geo-climatic conditions influence the pollution concentration that is already high in the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
- Southern India, on the other hand, is blessed with favourable climatological factors owing to its location by the sea.
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