Delhi stands as most polluted capital in world, Here are India's top 5 polluted cities

Indian urban development is growing at a fast pace and with it, pollution is skyrocketed as well.

According to the World Air Quality Report, 2020, India continues to feature prominently at the top of the most polluted cities ranking, with 22 of the top 30 most polluted cities globally. 

The World Air Quality Report, 2020 is prepared by the Swiss organisation IQAir.

The global cities ranking report is based on PM2.5 data from 106 countries, which is measured by ground-based monitoring stations, most of which is operated by government agencies.

Four out of five cities are from Uttar Pradesh and one city is from Maharashtra. Let's take a look at the top five polluted cities in India. 

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Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad has been ranked second after Hotan city from China which is the most polluted city in the world. 

Ghaziabad comes as the most polluted city across India. The city has been constantly reflecting in the top charts for polluted cities. 

Ghaziabad in 2019, had 110.2 µg/m³ on PM 2.5. In 2018, it was 135.2 µg/m³ and it was the highest in 2017 with 144.6 µg/m³. 

For 2020, Ghaziabad's average was 106.6 µg/m³. The reasons behind Ghaziabad's extremely high levels of pollution are twofold, with vehicles and industry playing one large role.

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The second most polluted city is Bulandshahr from Uttar Pradesh. The average PM 2.5 for the year 2020 was 98.4

The average PM 2.5 for the year 2019 was 89.4 in Bulandshahr. 

The AQI stands at the hazardous range and is 316. 

PM 10 stands as the most hazardous pollutant in the city. The S02 is 32.8 µg/m³.

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The third most polluted city in India is Bisrakh Jalalpur. Bisrakh is 10 km away from the city of Greater Noida. 

The average PM 2.5 for Bisrakh Jalalpur is 96 for the year 2020.

The current PM 10 is 448 µg/m³, PM 2.5 is 92 µg/m³, O3 is 176 µg/m³.

Other pollutants such as O3 stands at 176 µg/m³, NO2 at 48 µg/m³. 

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Maharashtra's Bhiwandi takes the fourth spot in the most polluted cities across India. Bhiwandi is located 20 km northeast of Mumbai and 15 km northeast of Thane city.  

The city is home to several small scale industries and the textile hub of Maharashtra. 

The AQI stand at 157 and it is unhealthy. The main pollutant is PM 2.5. 

The average PM 2.5 for the year 2020 was 95.5 µg/m³. It was 125.4 µg/m³ in the year 2018 and was 83.4 µg/m³ in 2019. 

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Uttar Pradesh's Noida comes at the fifth spot in the most polluted cities in India. 

The average PM2.5 for the year 2020 was 94.3 µg/m³. It was 134 µg/m³ in 2017, 123.6 µg/m³ in 2018 and 97.7 µg/m³ in 2019. 

Air quality in Noida is worse than in Beijing. The AQI is 117. 

The pollution in Noida comes from industrial and vehicular emissions, waste burning and dust. The worst period for the air quality takes place in October and November usually for different reasons.

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