Smog episodes showed a record spike in several regions across the country this winter, said the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in its latest all-India winter air quality analysis, raising alarm over the deepening air pollution crisis.
Though the air quality was 12 per cent cleaner this winter compared to the previous year based on an average of 136 cities that had valid daily PM2.5 concentration data, the peak pollution levels were “alarmingly high”, especially in the northern and eastern plains, the report highlighted.
In terms of peak 24-hour PM 2.5 levels, north Indian cities showed the highest daily pollution, surpassing even the 2020-21 magnitude. In the northern region, Delhi-NCR remained the most-polluted sub-region with its worst days being almost five times worse than average. Delhi, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, and Manesar found their place among the top 10 most polluted cities, with Ghaziabad as the worst performer.
Smaller cities turning into pollution hotspots
Siwan in Bihar topped the list of most-polluted cities in India this winter with a seasonal average of 187 ug/m3. As many as 13 cities of Bihar featured in the top 25 cities with the highest pollution levels in winter. Delhi-NCR had 11 cities in the list, and Hisar in Haryana was the only city in the top 25 outside the sub-regions of Bihar and NCR.
“It is important to note that megacities are not the most polluted in any of the regions — it is the smaller and upcoming cities that are becoming pollution hotspots. This is even more evident in the winter peak daily pollution data,” said Avikal Somvanshi, programme manager, Urban Data Analytics Lab, CSE, highlighting that apart from the respective clean air action plans, cities will have to scale up their efforts to control pollution from all sources across the urban and rural landscape.
The analysis is based on the real-time (every 15 minutes) data recorded by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) from 326 official stations spread across 161 cities in 26 states and union territories for the winter period starting October 15, 2021, to February 28, 2022.
Ghaziabad, Delhi show worst air quality in the north
Out of the total 60 cities analysed in the northern states including Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi-NCR, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, Ghaziabad was the worst-polluted, followed by Delhi. The next eight spots were all occupied by neighbouring NCR cities: Faridabad, Manesar, Bagpat, Noida, Gurugram, Meerut, and Hapur. Hisar was the most polluted city in the north outside of NCR.
Air quality worsens over Bihar: Siwan is most-polluted
In terms of the regional winter average of PM2.5, the eastern plains, mainly Bihar, fared as bad as Delhi-NCR. However, the spikes were relatively milder. Within the east, the Bihar sub-region remained the most polluted, with six towns from the state featuring in the top 10 most-polluted cities this winter.
Out of the total 28 monitoring stations spread across cities in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha, Siwan in Bihar emerged as the most-polluted, along with Durgapur in West Bengal. Patna and Kolkata were other cities that fared poorly in air quality. The people of Brajrajnagar in Odisha and Siliguri in West Bengal took a sigh of relief with both cities recording the lowest winter average in the region.
“Clearly, the winter pollution challenge is not limited to one specific region; it is now a widespread national problem that requires urgent and deliberate action at a nationwide scale. Even though the pandemic conditions have arrested the overall trend in most regions, there is still a mixed trend,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, CSE. “There is a need for quicker reforms and action in key sectors of pollution – vehicles, industry, power plants and waste management – to bend the annual air pollution curve and daily spikes.”
Cleaner air in southern India
According to the CSE, the southern region recorded the lowest regional PM2.5 average this winter but it also registered an almost 24 per cent increase in regional average peak pollution compared to the previous winter. The region includes 35 cities spread across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Industrial towns, Gummidipoondi in Tamil Nadu and Gadag in Karnataka, also appeared in the worst 10 cities for peak pollution (24-hr value). The most polluted cities in the region were Kalaburagi and Hyderabad.
Western region
Out of the total 15 cities spread across Gujarat and Maharashtra, Ankleshwar was found to be most-polluted, followed by Vapi and Kalyan. Aurangabad and Nandesari recorded the lowest winter average in the region, along with Chandrapur and Solapur.
Central region
The region included 17 cities spread across Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The most-polluted city in the region was Singrauli followed by Katni, Jabalpur, and Bhopal.
North-eastern region
Out of the total six cities in the Northeast, Guwahati was found to be the most polluted in the region, followed by Agartala. Aizawl and Shillong recorded the lowest winter average in the region mostly because of geographical location and topography.
According to the CSE, the widely divergent trends in pollution levels across regions is strongly influenced by local geo-climatic conditions, meteorology and the intensity of pollution, but the overall emerging trend points towards a national air quality crisis.
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