15 Haryana cities rank among India’s 100 most polluted

Chandigarh: Most of the cities of Haryana are under the grip of air pollution. A new analysis has recently revealed that 15 out of 24 Haryana’s cities ranked among the 100 most polluted cities in India based on PM2.5 in the first six months of 2024. As per National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), safe limits for PM2.5 and PM10 annual levels are 40 micrograms per cubic metre and 60 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.

However, these limits are above the limit set by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) in 2021. WHO recommends 5 micrograms per cubic metre for PM2.5 and 15 micrograms per cubic metre for PM10.

Unfortunately, most of the cities of Haryana surpassed both NAAQS and WHO PM10 standards. Among the polluted cities Faridabad comes on top with an average PM2.5 level of 103 micrograms per cubic metre, which is more than NAAQS and WHO guidelines.

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Palwal, Ambala, and Mandikhera are the three cities that managed to keep PM2.5 levels below the NAAQS limits.

Gurugram recorded the maximum PM10 concentration at 227 micrograms per cubic metre on the other hand, Ambala experienced the lowest at 79 micrograms per cubic metre.

It is undeniable that all 24 cities of Haryana surpassed the standards set by WHO’s air quality limits for particulate matter in the first half of 2024. Several cities haven’t yet gone over India’s national air quality standards. A change is needed to bring them closer to international guidelines,” said Manoj Kumar, an analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).