Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh is 22nd most polluted city in world, 15 cities of India among worst 20

Sravani Sarkar

NewsBits.in

BHOPAL/NEW DELHI: Singrauli, the coalfields area in Madhya Pradesh that has seen rapid industrialization over past few decades, has emerged as the 22nd most polluted city in the world in year 2018.

Among the top 20 worst polluted cities (regions) in the world, 15 are from India. The national capital region (NCR) has emerged as the most polluted, while Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida, and Bhiwadi feature in the top six worst-affected cities.

Madhya Pradesh’s industrial area Mandideep, situated just on outskirts of capital Bhopal has emerged as 75th most polluted, the only second MP area to feature in worst 100.

The rankings have been put out by a report compiled and analysed by IQ AirVisual, a software company that tracks pollution worldwide, and Greenpeace, an environmental NGO.

Delhi is ranked 11th in the list; the only non-Indian city in the top five is Pakistan’s Faisalabad.

Air pollution is likely to cause the death of an estimated seven million lives globally in the next year while costing the world’s economy nearly 225 billion dollars, the report which was released Tuesday morning in Jakarta, has warned.

South Asia is facing the worst air pollution crisis that is only deepening over years, the report said. Of the 20 most polluted cities in the world last year, 18 were in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the study said.

(Image courtesy: csrvision.in)