Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut topped the list of cities with the worst air quality in India as it recorded an AQI of 382 falling in the “very poor” category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

It was followed by Greater Noida, another city in Uttar Pradesh, with the air quality index (AQI) of 299, falling in the “poor” category.

Advertisement

Bharatpur was the third most polluted Indian city on Monday, with an AQI of 280, the CPCB data showed.

The data said Delhi-NCR was among the most polluted regions in the country, with most cities falling in the “poor” category. Delhi had an AQI of 263, followed by 262 in Bahadurgarh and 256 in Faridabad.

However, Gurugram’s AQI was better than its surrounding region at 182, it said.

Manesar was also among the top 10 with an AQI of 248, while Noida and Ghaziabad had AQIs of 229 and 220, respectively.

India’s financial capital, Mumbai’s AQI was better than Delhi-NCR at 177, the CPCB daily bulletin said.

According to the AQI scale, the air quality check between 0-50 is ‘good’, 51-100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 is ‘moderate’, 201-300 is ‘poor’, 301-400 is ‘very poor’, and 401-450 is ‘severe’.

Each of these categories is decided based on the ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts.