A recent assessment conducted by IQAir has brought alarming results for Kanpur and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. After evaluation on a range of parameters that included 80,000 data points, Kanpur and Lucknow are ranked 8th and 9th respectively, in the list of the world’s most populated cities based on air quality index. Additionally, 9 out of the top 10 cities in the report are from India, indicating a dire need for pollution control measures throughout the country.
22 Indian municipalities in the list of top 30 cities with contaminated air!
https://www.iqair.com/us/world-most-polluted-cities
While Lucknow has witnessed certain marginal betterment, Kanpur’s air quality has seen a downfall of nearly 50% from 2019. In the analysis of different nations, India was marked as the 3rd most polluted country across the globe just after Pakistan and Bangladesh. With threatening levels of PM2.5, 22 Indian cities have made it to the top 30 cities with contaminated air in the global survey. Amongst the metropolitan cities, Delhi topped the list with the worst average air quality.
Despite multiple programs launched by the central and state government, different cities across the nation have witnessed only borderline improvements. The report stated that the maximum deterioration of air quality in India is caused by transportation, biomass burning for cooking, electricity generation, industry, construction, waste burning and episodic agricultural burning.
Urgent need of self-awareness amongst the city residents
While the city and the state administration repeatedly execute initiatives for ameliorating the air quality, the citizens can equally contribute to safeguarding the environment and promoting a better future. One of the most significant ways in which we can become warriors of pollution control is through limiting our usage of petrol and diesel-run vehicles. Through carpooling and enhanced use of public transport, we can help in dampening the scale of air pollution. It is important to understand that a sustainable tomorrow is only possible when we value our scarce resources and treasure our ecosystem.
