Chandigarh, Bhiwani among worst-hit towns in region on Wednesday morning, according to Central Pollution Control Board.
Haryana and Punjab grappled with rising pollution levels on Wednesday morning, with Bhiwani emerging as the worst-hit town with an AQI of 358. The air quality index (AQI) of Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, was 355 in the morning, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app, which provides hourly updates.
Among other places in Haryana, the AQI was 336 in Panipat, 322 each in Sonepat and Charkhi Dadri, 313 in Jind, 275 in Rohtak, 273 in Gurugram, 266 in Panchkula, 258 in Bahadurgarh, 248 in Kurukshetra and 242 in Yamunanagar.
In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh recorded an AQI of 308, Amritsar 270, Patiala 258, Jalandhar 229, Ludhiana 209 and Rupnagar 191.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, 401 and 450 severe and above 450 severe plus.
Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana after harvesting the paddy crop in October and November is blamed for the rise in air pollution in the region.
As the window for sowing the rabi crop, wheat, is short after the paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear the crop residue.