New Delhi, March 11 -- A global air quality report, 'The World Air Quality Report 2024,' by Swiss firm IQAir, was released Tuesday. The report revealed that 13 Indian cities are among the world's 20 most polluted cities. Notably, the most polluted city was neither Delhi, Mumbai, nor Pune. Meghalaya's Byrnihat took the crown as the most polluted city.

The The World Air Quality Report 2024 ranked Byrnihat, a town on the Assam-Meghalaya border, as the world's most polluted city, with an alarming PM 2.5 level of 128 micrograms per cubic meter.

Meanwhile, Delhi was ranked the most polluted capital, and India ranked the world's fifth most polluted nation.

Byrnihat's extreme pollution levels stem from heavy industrial activities, including di...