The Indian capital is the country's most polluted city, while Uttar Pradesh is the country's most polluted state, a new report has revealed.
The report, titled Airpocalypse II, by global environmental organization Greenpeace's India chapter, has found that Delhi is the most polluted city in India, while with 15 of its cities among the 30 polluted cities of the country, Uttar Pradesh is India's most polluted state.
These cities in Uttar Pradesh include state capital Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad on outskirts of Delhi, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur and Agra, according to the report.
The report is based on air pollution data -- particulate matter (PM) 10 levels -- collated from the Central and State Pollution Control Boards.
Delhi and all these 15 cities in Uttar Pradesh were found to have PM 10 levels much more than the global permissible limit of 20 micrograms per cubic meter (as per World Health Organization standards) and 60 (as per Indian standards), said the report.
Apart from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the states of Rajasthan and Maharashtra in the west and Bihar in the east are the places where children are "worst affected."
"Together these states are home to 12.9 million children, who are below or up to five years of age, trapped in bad air exceeding by more than twice the annual standard," the report said, in what is claimed to be alarming.
The Indian government has not reacted to the report.
