3 Raj cities among world's 20 most polluted, says report

A total three cities of Rajasthan were among the world's 20 most polluted cities in the latest "World Air Quality Report 2024", published by the Swiss air technology firm IQAir on Tuesday.

- HT Correspondent

JAIPUR:

According to the report, Rajasthan's Ganganagar, Bhiwadi and Hanumangarh featured in the list along with 10 other Indian cities - majority of whom are from the National Capital Region (NCR), including New Delhi.

The IQAir's annual World Air Quality Report aggregates and compares millions of PM2.5 measurements taken in thousands of locations around the world. The data is gathered over the course of the year from a combination of regulatory and non-regulatory ground-based air quality monitors.

The PM 2.5 are fine inhalable particles with diameters generally 2.5 micrometres and smaller. The IQAir report is based on PM 2.5 alone. Other key parameters used to measure air pollution in India include pollutants such as PM10, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O3).

Of the three most polluted cities in Rajasthan, Ganganagar ranked 14th in the world with the 86.6 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) of the PM2.5 concentration, followed by Bhiwadi ranking 17th with 83.1 µg/m3, and Hanumangarh ranking 19th with 79.9 µg/m3 in average throughout 2024, the report revealed.