India is one of five worst countries for air quality

India has been named as a member of the lowest five countries in the world when it comes to air quality. A new study has found that the country ranks as one of the worst for air pollution, with only Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China coming in below it. 

Researchers from Yale University assessed 178 nations and the air pollution that their citizens are subjected to. The Environmental Performance Index 2014 looked at country-specific performances in air quality, water, sanitation and status of biodiversity. Taking into account all of these factors, India's rank on the scale was 155th, far below other BRICS countries.

Although the index only looked at country-wide performance, several media reports have suggested that the researchers named Delhi as the worst country in the world when it comes to air quality. However, a spokesperson from Yale University stated that the report does not list individual cities' statuses. The reports concerning Delhi's air quality follow on from recent debates over whether the city suffers from higher levels of air pollution than Beijing.

According to the report, the country with the worst air quality is Bangladesh. Although countries with poor air quality and larger economies have been at the centre of global news in the past few months, the report has raised concerns about those countries that have small economies but still suffer from extensive levels of air pollution.

While India's air quality is incredibly low on the rankings, it fared better in water resourcing, forests and fisheries than many other countries. However, the country is still far behind other emerging markets and has a bigger environmental challenge than other countries in a similar situation, such as Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa, said Angel Hsu, lead author of the report.

In terms of the top countries overall, Switzerland was the best out of all the nations; followed by Luxembourg, Australia, Singapore and Czech Republic.

The findings of the index have been criticised by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, which said that the way that air pollution is measured for the report has been altered. In previous years, researchers looked at sulphur dioxide levels but they now look at PM2.5. According to an official from the committee, PM2.5 is high throughout India due to the burning of biomass; however, the country's sulphur dioxide levels are lower than developed countries.