Lucknow ranked ninth most polluted city in the world, says report

lucknow

Updated: Mar 06, 2019 08:56 IST

The state capital has been ranked the ninth most polluted city in the world, as per the recent air quality report published on Tuesday. Alarmingly, 15 of the 20 most polluted cities in the region are from India, as per the report.

Gurugram takes lead as the most polluted city followed by, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhiwadi and Noida in the top six.

The said data is compiled in the report titled IQ Air Air Visual 2018 World Air Quality Report. The report, prepared in collaboration with Greenpeace South-east Asia, reveals the state of particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution last year.

The air quality of Lucknow, according to experts, is caused primarily because of unchecked vehicular pollution and rampant construction.

“The expanse of unchecked construction adds to particulate pollution of PM 2.5. This is worsened by addition of other pollutants released in vehicular emissions,” said Dr Gurdayal Singh, a senior environmentalist.

The state capital remained under severe category of particulate pollution as per data released by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The State Pollution Control Board also gave a similar report so did other bodies, including Lucknow-based Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR).

“The contents of these reports, despite being alarming, are not considered seriously by our policy makers and officials. So the reports are not reflected in new laws formulated by them,” said Singh said.

He suggested that there should be a report linking pollution to the number of deaths that they cause “so that the government takes action.”