Dust blows in the wind

Dust blows in the wind

Dust blows in the wind

Source: https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/dust-blows-wind

Author: Ravi Shanker Kapoor

Ranking high in the World Air Quality Report 2021 released by IQAir, a Swiss firm, is a matter of shame for any country, but India continues to do so. In fact, air pollution worsened in 2021, ending a three-year trend of improvement. With Delhi as the most polluted capital and 63 out of top 100 polluted cities in the world in India, it is time our political masters woke up and squarely faced the problem which is literally killing millions of people. The World Air Quality Report 2021 has indeed painted a grim picture: “India was home to 11 of the 15 most polluted cities in Central and South Asia in 2021. Delhi saw a 14.6% increase in PM2.5 concentrations in 2021 with levels rising to 96.4 µg/m³ from 84 µg/m³ in 2020. No cities in India met the WHO air quality guideline of 5 µg/m³. In 2021, 48% of India’s cities exceeded 50 µg/m³, or more than 10 times the WHO guideline.”