E-Paper
Haryana: At 331, Sonepat’s air quality worst in country
Jind (311) too falls in ‘very poor’ category, mentions Central Pollution Control Board in its Air Quality Index bulletin. The AQI in several other Haryana cities was in the ‘poor’ category.
The district of Sonepat recorded the worst air quality in the country on Tuesday. According to the Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletin, issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at 4 pm, Sonepat’s air was recorded in ‘very poor’ category at 331, followed by Delhi (327) and another Haryana district Jind (311).
Officials said the AQI defines the overall air quality like a thermometer that runs from 0 to 500 degrees with six remarks and color codes – good/dark green (0-50), satisfactory/green (51-100), moderate/yellow (101-200), poor/orange (201-300), very poor/red (301-400) and severe (above 401).
As per the CPCB, it is calculated only if data is available for a minimum of three pollutants out of which one should necessarily be either particulate matter (PM) 2.5 or PM10. In almost all places, the prominent pollutant remains ultrafine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that is said to be the most harmful to human beings due to its far-reaching health risks.
The AQI in other Haryana cities like Kurukshetra (296), Bahadurgarh (281), Kaithal (277), Bhiwani (233), Charkhi Dadri (232), Sirsa (229), Yamunanagar (226), Gurugram (223), Rohtak (218), Ballabgarh (212), Hisar (212), Karnal (202) and Panchkula (202) was in the ‘poor’ category.
Till Tuesday, the state has witnessed 665 cases of farm fire cases. The day saw 10 fresh cases, including three from Karnal district, two each from Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Faridabad and one case from Jhajjar.
Meanwhile, activists of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Shaheed Bhagat Singh) submitted memorandums to district and tehsil officials in protest against the recent government directive of marking a “red entry” on the portal against farmers burning stubble and banning the errants from selling crop for two seasons.
Tejveer Singh, spokesperson of the union, said memorandums were handed over in the name of chief minister in Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal, urging to roll back the order at the earliest.
