Even though the UT administration had allowed bursting of crackers only on Diwali night, residents across the city were seen indulging in fireworks on Tuesday too, which led to air quality of the city slip to the poor category. Due to windy weather, however, it again improved quickly within a few hours as was seen on Diwali night.
At the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) in Sector 53, the 24-hour average AQI for the day after Diwali upto Tuesday midnight was 206 (poor). When the air quality slips to poor, it can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. The concentration of PM2.5 particles here had gone upto 345 micrograms per metre cube of air here during its peak.
AQI remained lower at the other two CAAQMS observatories.
At the Sector 22 observatory, the average AQI of Tuesday was 170 (moderate) while at Sector 25, it was 93 (satisfactory). However, a spike in pollutants was seen around Tuesday night at both these observatories as well.
On Diwali, the city’s AQI had gone into the very poor category. It was highest at the Sector 22 observatory at 320.
UT director environment Debendra Dalai said, “It is unfortunate that people burst crackers on Tuesday night despite the administration’s allowing them to burst crackers only on Monday night. The spike in pollutants is a result of this.”
{{/usCountry}}UT director environment Debendra Dalai said, “It is unfortunate that people burst crackers on Tuesday night despite the administration’s allowing them to burst crackers only on Monday night. The spike in pollutants is a result of this.”
{{/usCountry}}He added that favorable windy weather conditions which had cleared the air on Diwali night also continued on Tuesday and by morning, the AQI was down to normal.
“With the temperature likely to dip further in November, AQI will start getting worse due to temperature inversion. We will also keep a check on stubble burning in our jurisdiction,” he added.