Most Polluted Cities: Peshawar ranks second in WHO report

PESHAWAR:  

World Health Organization has ranked Peshawar as the second most polluted city across the globe. According to a report issued on Friday, data was collected from 3,000 cities, for the survey. “Of the 3,000 cities in the WHO’s air quality database, the most polluted at the time of measurement was Onitsha, a fast-growing city in Nigeria,” stated the report.

“Peshawar was in second place, followed by Zabol in Iran.” Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan and Kabul ranked tenth and seventeenth positions, respectively, on the list. The data for the report was collected between 2011 and 2015.

“Around 98% of cities with over 100,000 inhabitants in low-and middle-income countries, including Pakistan, do not meet WHO air quality guidelines,” stated the report.

According to WHO’s findings, air pollution has increased by 8% globally in the past five years.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2016.