E-Paper
Chandigarh’s AQI soars to ‘very poor’ in morning, dips by evening
With dense morning fog and falling temperatures, similar AQI spikes are expected during the morning hours in the coming days
After showing signs of improvement over the past two days, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) once again breached the 300 mark in some areas on Monday morning.
However, the alarm was short-lived, as the air quality improved later in the day. With dense morning fog and falling temperatures, similar AQI spikes are expected during the morning hours in the coming days.
On Monday morning, the AQI was worst at the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) in Sector 22. It shot up to 313 at 5 am here, while at CAAQMS, Sector 53, it rose to 304 at the same time, both falling in the “very poor” category. But it started dropping from 6 am onwards.
An AQI between 301-400 can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure.
At the Sector 25 CAAQMS, the AQI went up to 299 around 5 am, just one notch short of the very poor category.
When between 201-300, the AQI is considered poor and can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.
The AQI returned to the poor category by afternoon across Chandigarh, with all stations recording readings below 300. As per the daily bulletin released by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the mean AQI of Chandigarh, taken at 4 pm, was 268, lower than 287 on Sunday and 277 on Saturday.
This is because the AQI was able to recover better on Monday, owing to higher temperature during the day.
On Monday, Punjab recorded 1,251 fresh farm fire cases, the highest single-day spike this season.
Neighbouring Haryana also recorded 36 cases of stubble burning, highest since November 1. This is likely to affect Chandigarh’s AQI in the coming days.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) Chandigarh director Surender Paul said the increase in farm fires was linked to times when dense fog was recorded in the city. Visibility was just 100 metres at 8.30 am on Monday at the Sector 39 IMD observatory, but it improved later during the day.
The temperature, which is still a little above normal, is also likely to fall further, which can lead to temperature inversion that does not allow pollutants in the air to disperse.
Paul added that for now, Northwesterly winds were currently blowing in the region, keeping pollution in check. “The winds originate in central Asia, towards the Northwest of the country, and are dry and cool in nature. While they are scattering pollutants from here, the winds blow towards the Delhi side where AQI crossed 500 at several stations on Monday. These are usually the dominant winds in the region around this time of the year, but had previously been affected due to the combined effect of a Western Disturbance and a low pressure area over the region, bringing Easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal side,” he explained.
Amid the poor visibility, IndiGo flight 6E-6385, which was scheduled to arrive at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport at 11.15 pm, was cancelled. Earlier in the morning,
IndiGo flight 6E7743, which had a scheduled departure of 6.45 am from Chandigarh to Jaipur, left at 7.40 am, after a delay of nearly an hour.
