News Brief
'India Today' Claims Delhi No More The Most Polluted City, Netizens Fact-Check
Smog in Delhi. (Representative Image) (Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times via GettyImages)
India's national capital has been topping the list of the world's most polluted cities for several years.
However, an India Today report on Monday (24 October) claimed that Delhi is no longer on the list of the top 10 most polluted cities in Asia.
The top spot has been taken by Gurugram, along with seven other Indian cities on the list.
Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, shared the report on his Twitter handle.
He wrote, "Some years back, Delhi was the most polluted city in the world. Not anymore! People of Del worked very hard. Today, we have improved a lot. Whereas we have improved, it's still a long way. We will continue working hard so that we find a place in the best cities in the world."
However, in the afternoon of 24 October 2022, Delhi's AQI (air quality index) stood at 308 indicating "Very Poor" air quality.
Gurugram with an AQI of 260 was under the "Poor" category and Lucknow, another city that India Today's report claimed to do worse than Delhi, with an AQI of 139 was under the "Moderate" category.
These figures have been taken from AQI Pollution Data fetched from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Raising doubts about the authenticity of the report, netizens pointed fingers at the neutrality of mainstream media portals.
It is to be noted that the Delhi government has placed a complete ban on firecrackers during Diwali citing them as the reason behind Delhi’s toxic air.
However, despite the ban, the capital remains one of the world's most polluted cities.
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