Thread by @IndiaSpend

#AirPollution, measured by annual PM2.5--particles finer than a human hair--reduced in bigger cities such as Delhi & Varanasi but increased in smaller cities such as Fatehabad & Moradabad, finds a @CSEINDIA analysis of 26 cities. Follow the thread for insights:

In many cities in the upper Indo-Gangetic plains, avg PM2.5 levels were above 2019 levels. #AirPollution in Fatehabad, in northern Haryana, deteriorated the most, with PM2.5 levels increasing 35% from 2019

The %age of PM2.5 in the coarser PM10--which determines air toxicity--was in the high 40s in Oct & remained so in Nov, averaging 55% in Amritsar, 48% in Chandigarh & 53% in Patna. It reached 64% in Amritsar, 69% in Chandigarh & 62% in Patna during #Diwali2020

#AirPollution reduced the most in Sirsa, 40km from Fatehabad, with a 44% lower avg PM2.5 2020 level vs 2019. This massive variation can’t be attributed to meteorology & has to do with local factors such as stubble burning, Avikal Somvanshi, CSE prog mgr, said in a press release

PM2.5 avg in Nov 2020 was 310% higher in Fatehabad, 104% in Agra and 57% in Kaithal, compared to November 2019

Home to over 600 million, the Gangetic plains host four cities--Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya and Patna--that were the most polluted in the world in 2018, according to the WHO, we reported in March 2019:
indiaspend.com/on-the-gangeti…

“Today, more than 76% of the population lives in places that do not meet Indian air quality standards,” Sagnik Sey, coordinator of @CERCA_IITD told us in a Nov 2019 interview: indiaspend.com/delhis-air-pol…

In India, the PM2.5 average during the 2020 summer & monsoon was lower compared to 2019 due to #COVID19. But reopening of the economy coincided with the onset of winter in India, which trapped #pollution, leading to a rise in PM2.5 in October, the @CSEINDIA analysis notes

In Amritsar, there were 33 days that met the air quality standards in winter 2020 vs 41 in 2019. In Lucknow, there was not a single day that met the air quality standard after October and 19 days of ‘severe’ or ‘worse’ air quality, up from 5 such days in 2019

#Airpollution killed ~116,000 infants in India within the 1st month of birth. More than half of these deaths were due to PM2.5 in outdoor air, we reported in October 2020:
indiaspend.com/air-pollution-….

The @CSEINDIA analysis is based on publicly available granular real-time data (15-minute averages) from @CPCB_OFFICIAL’s Central Control Room for Air Quality Management. You can access the report here:
cdn.cseindia.org/docs/Analysis-…