E-Paper
Ahead of Diwali, air quality of most Haryana cities deteriorates again
Ahead of Diwali, the air quality of Haryana’s Faridabad and Bahadurgarh cities has once again slipped to very poor category while residents of 10 other cities are breathing poor quality air
Ahead of Diwali, the air quality of Haryana’s Faridabad and Bahadurgarh cities has once again slipped to very poor category while residents of 10 other cities are breathing poor quality air.
The air quality index (AQI) of Bahadurgarh and Faridabad was 318 and 306, respectively, whereas the AQI of Panipat, Gurugram, Rohtak, Kaithal, Hisar, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri and Daruhera was between 200 and 300.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, AQI between 0 to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 satisfactory, 101 to 200 moderate, 201 to 300 poor, 301 to 400 very poor, and above 400 is severe.
Most of the Haryana cities have very poor and poor quality and very poor quality air causes respiratory illness on prolonged exposure and poor air quality causes breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.
The deteriorating air quality is a cause of concern as the officials monitoring air pollution predicted strong possibility that it may get worse further by the end of this week.
The air quality of most Haryana cities had improved last week and on September 25, all 20 cities of the state witnessed the air quality index below 100. But it got polluted following a jump in the incidents of stubble burning incidents as the total incidents of stubble burning has reached 3,038 by November 1.
With 775 incidents of farm fire, Kaithal district is at the top, followed by Karnal (740), Kurukshetra (459), Fatehabad (393), Ambala (186), Jind (183), and Yamunanagar (113).
As per the data compiled by the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), maximum cases were reported from Kaithal (775), followed by Karnal (740), Kurukshetra (459), Fatehabad (393), Ambala (186), Jind (183), Yamunanagar (113), Palwal (54), Sirsa (49), and Panipat 41.
Concerned over the deteriorating air quality, chairperson of the commission for air quality management in the NCR and adjoining areas, MM Kutty held a video conference with the deputy commissioners of the districts where incidents of stubble burning were reported.
“During the virtual meeting Kutty asked why incidents of stubble burning were being reported in some districts every year,” said an official, who attended the video conference.
The chairperson stressed on the need to keep check on stubble burning and took stock from the deputy commissioners about the steps being taken o improve the air quality in the NCR districts.
Karnal reported 740 cases of farm fires this year, deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said there was considerable fall in farm fires. The number has come down to 740 against 949 of last year.
He said 70 FIRs have been registered against the erring farmers and a fine of over ₹10 lakh has been imposed on 397 farmers.
In Kaithal, deputy commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said a fine of ₹6.30 lakh has been imposed on 255 farmers, while in Kurukshetra, a fine of ₹4 lakh has been imposed on 254 farmers so far.
