It’s that time of the year when the schools, colleges and workplaces scramble to announce work from home and online classes as Delhi’s air quality becomes unbearable. Today, on November 18, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) broke records as it hovered around 1,500 with areas such as Mundka, Dwarka, Najafgarh and Rohini reported to be worst affected.
In desperate times like these, residents in Delhi often yearn for cleaner cities that offer breathable air. On one hand when the national capital is registering AQIs far beyond human tolerance, cities like Ramanathpuram in Tamil Nadu are posting AQIs as low as 19 which earns them the hapless envy of millions of Delhi residents.
But that’s not all.
There are 26 more cities that are still untouched by the recklessly unsustainable development which has brought down the collective material aspirations of millions to a screeching halt. The only aspiration left is to have access to clean water, breathable air and healthy food– all of which our metropolitan idea of development fails to deliver.
These cities, which still allow their residents a breath of clean air, are — Aizawl (Mizoram), Ariyalur (Tamil Nadu), Bagalkote (Karnataka), Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Chikkamaglur (Karnataka), Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Dindigul (Tamil Nadu), Hassan (Karnataka), Kalburgi (Karnataka), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Karur (Tamil Nadu), Koppal (Karnataka) and Madikeri (Karnataka).
It is worth noting that none of the abovementioned cities are situated in northern India. What is even more concerning is that there's been a drastic reduction in the number of such cities since yesterday by 27 per cent.
According to the latest trends, the air quality level in 51 small and large cities across the country remains satisfactory. These cities include Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Puducherry, Purnia, Ramnagar, Ranipet, Rishikesh, Satna, Shivamogga, Silchar, Siliguri, Sirohi, Shivsagar, Tirupur, Varanasi, Vellore, Vijayawada and others.