The air pollution in India exacerbate in 2021. The average air pollution, measured in the lethal and microscopic PM2.5 pollutant, is 58.1 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than 10 times the World Health Organisation's (WHO) air quality guidelines.
According to the world air quality report released by a Swiss firm, IQAir, no city in India met the WHO standards for air quality.
The pollution worsened in North India. With pollution rising by 15 percent from the preceding year, Delhi became the World’s most polluted capital for straight two consecutive years. While Delhi's air pollution ranks at No. 4 globally, the world's most polluted place is Rajasthan's Bhiwadi, succeeding Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad on Delhi's eastern border. Ten of the top 15 most polluted cities are in India.
Delhi’s air pollution goes dangerously beyond the WHO’s safety limits. The air pollution in Delhi is 20 times the safety limit. The safe limit is 5 according to WHO guidelines.
The main source of air pollution are Vehicles, biomass combustion, industrial waste. Last year, in November several power plants, as well as some industries in Delhi, were temporarily shut down due to increasing levels of air pollution in the capital.
The cleanest air reported in India is of Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu which is also three times WHO safe levels.