Delhi country’s third most polluted city in first half of 2024: CREA data

The most polluted city was Byrnihat in Meghalaya, and the second most polluted city was Faridabad in the National Capital Region

Delhi ranked as the country’s third most polluted city out of 256 cities in the first half of the year, according to an analysis of average PM 2.5 data by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) that was released on Monday. The average PM 2.5 levels in Delhi during the period January to June was 102µg/m3 — twice the daily national standard of 60µg/m3 and behind only Faridabad (103µg/m3) and Byrnihat in Meghalaya (140µg/m3), the analysis revealed.

An anti-smog gun sprays water into the atmosphere to reduce dust pollution at Anand Vihar in New Delhi in January 2024. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The other polluted cities in the top 10 included Gurugram in Haryana (99µg/m3), Bhagalpur in Bihar (96µg/m3), Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan (96µg/m3), Greater Noida (96µg/m3) and Muzaffarnagar (95µg/m3) in Uttar Pradesh, Ballabgarh in Haryana (94µg/m3), and Bhiwadi in Rajasthan (92µg/m3).

Among the 256 cities analysed using Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data on PM 2.5, the report found 163 of these cities exceeded the annual PM 2.5 standards of 40µg/m3 and all 256 cities exceeded the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s PM 2.5 annual standards of 5µg/m3, it said. Of these 163 cities, only 63 are part of the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) and have dedicated plans to reduce pollution. The remaining 100 cities still do not have a plan or funding from the Centre, CREA said.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), 25 of the 27 cities exceeded the annual national standard of 405µg/m3, highlighting the entire region as a problematic area in terms of air pollution. Sunil Dahiya, analyst at CREA, said the findings once again highlight the need for focused action in Delhi-NCR.

“Barring Palwal and Mandikhera, all NCR cities have breached the national air standards during the first half of the year. This shows the need to have an action plan for the wider airshed region of NCR and enforce systematic and comprehensive pollution strategies for these cities and sources beyond municipal corporation boundaries or geographical boundaries,” said Dahiya.

He also said that the data from Palwal and Mandikhera may need to be monitored more closely. “It is surprising these two NCR cities are meeting the standards whereas the rest of NCR is not. It calls for their air quality stations to be assessed, too,” he added.

The report said that of the 182 days analysed in the first half of the year, Delhi’s PM 2.5 levels were over the daily PM 2.5 limit of 60 on 154 days, meaning even during the summer, Delhi is finding it hard to meet targets, it said.