India’s air quality improved in 2020 amid coronavirus pandemic: Report

Air quality improved in major cities in India but 22 cities featured among the top 30 most polluted cities in the world.

Air quality improved in India last year as compared to the previous years owing to the coronavirus induced lockdown, a report said on Tuesday. Air quality improved in major cities in India but 22 cities featured among the top 30 most polluted cities in the world, showed new data from IQAir’s global air quality data platform in its World Air Quality Report 2020.

The concentration of life-shortening particles decreased by 15 per cent in New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT Photo)

"The year 2020 brought an unexpected dip in air pollution. In 2021, we will likely see an increase in air pollution due to human activity, again. We hope this report will highlight that urgent action is both possible and necessary to combat air pollution, which remains the world's greatest environmental health threat," said Frank Hammes, CEO of IQAir.

The report is based on PM2.5 data from 106 countries and uses ground-based monitoring stations operated by governmental agencies, local residents, non-profit organisations and companies.

Here are the key findings of the report:

1. In 2020, all Indian cities which were monitored observed air quality improvements of 63 per cent compared to 2019.

2. The most polluted capital cities in 2020 were New Delhi (84 mcg/m3) and Dhaka (77). Jakarta, Kathmandu, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beijing and were all ranked in the top 20.

3. Air quality in 84 per cent of all the monitored countries improved largely due to the measures taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

4. Major cities in the world in 2020 saw improvements compared to 2019. The concentration of life-shortening particles decreased by 15 per cent in New Delhi while Beijing witnessed 11 per cent less pollution. Other major cities like Chicago, London, Paris and Seoul also saw 13%, 16%, 17% and 16% less pollution, respectively.

5. South Asia remained the most polluted region of the world with Bangladesh, India and Pakistan sharing 42 of the 50 most polluted cities worldwide. Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Mongolia and Afghanistan had average annual PM2.5 concentrations between 77 and 47 microgrammes per cubic metre (mcg/m3) of air.

6. In 2020, 86 per cent of the cities in China experienced cleaner air and Hotan in northwestern China was ranked as the world's most polluted city.

7. Half of all European cities in 2020 exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) target of annual PM2.5 pollution. The highest levels were found in eastern and southern Europe.

8. In the United States, average particle pollution increased by 6.7 per cent despite the coronavirus pandemic due to wildfires in US cities. 38 per cent of cities in the US did not meet the WHO guidelines in 2020.