NO ACTION PLAN YET

Maharashtra tops the list of states that still do not have air pollution action plan. Some of the most polluted cities which have not submitted their plans:

Akola, Badlapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Sangli, Solapur, Ulhasnagar

Gajraula, Jhansi, Khurja, Noida, Rae Bareli

Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur

Bengaluru, Devanagere, Gulburga, Hubli-dharwad

Korba, Raipur

Kashipur, Rishikesh

Ahmedabad

Srinagar

Nalgonda

City PM2.5 levels (Annual mean in µg/m3)

Kanpur

Faridabad

Varanasi

Gaya

Patna

Delhi

Lucknow

Agra

Muzaffarpur

Srinagar

Jaipur

Gurugram

Patiala

Jodhpur

Safe limit: 40 µg/m3

POLLUTANTS AROUND YOU

In the air is suspended particulate matter (PM) of different sizes. Many of these are a mix of dust, pollen, soot and chemicals

PM 10: These are solid and liquid particles that are less than 10 micrometres in diameter — 10 micrometres is about 5 times less than the width of a single human hair. PM 10 particles can stay in the air for minutes and even hours. Particles bigger than these are generally kept out by the body’s natural filtration mechanism. The smaller particles are lighter and they stay in the air longer and travel farther.

PM 2.5: The smaller kind, with a diameter not more than 2.5 micrometres. These are “fine particles” that can stay in the air for days or weeks and are small enough to invade even the narrowest of airways leading into the body.

(Source: System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research)