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Pollution data: 10 Indian cities with worst air quality; Faridabad on top of list, Delhi second
Greater Noida, Delhi, Faridabad and Muzaffarnagar were among the cities with the worst air quality, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Several cities within the National Capital Region (NCR) recorded ‘very poor’ air quality on Monday. Several other cities also logged high air quality index figures.
Greater Noida, Delhi, Faridabad and Muzaffarnagar were among the cities with the worst air quality, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Here are the the top 10 cities with worst AQI as per the latest CPCB data:
| Greater Noida | 354 |
| Faridabad | 322 |
| Delhi | 313 |
| Muzaffarnagar | 299 |
| Bahadurgarh | 284 |
| Manesar | 280 |
| Kaithal | 269 |
| Ballabgarh | 264 |
| Bharatpur | 261 |
| Bhiwadi | 261 |
As per the CPCB, the category ‘Good’ of the Air Quality Index (AQI) lies between 0-50, ‘Satisfactory’ between 51-100, ‘Moderate’ between 101-200, ‘Poor’ between 201-300, ‘Very Poor’ between 301-400 and ‘Severe’ between 401-500.
Greater Noida recorded an AQI of 354, Uttar Pradesh's Faridabad of 322, Delhi of 313, UP's Muzzafarnagar of 299, Haryana's Bahadurgarh of 284, Manesar of 280. Rajasthan's Bharatpur and Bhiwadi recorded an AQI of 261.
Haryana's Kurukshetra recorded an AQI of 256. Whereas, Gurugram recorded an AQI of 255, Meerut of 253, Ghaziabad of 246 and Karnal of 243.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM)'s sub-committee invoked the 11-point action plan as per Stage-II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on Saturday anticipating the air quality to worsen in the coming days.
Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai called a meeting at 12 pm on Monday to discuss the execution of Phase 2 of Grap.
Rai told news agency ANI on Monday, “The cold has started increasing in Delhi and the speed of the wind has decreased, this may result in an increase in pollution... The particulate matter is staying near the ground. The second phase of GRAP has been implemented in Delhi... A meeting has been called with all the concerned departments to discuss the execution of the GRAP phase 2.”
He further added, “The weather is not in our hands but the sources need to be controlled so that the effect of pollution on the health of the people is reduced as much as possible.”
