Ludhiana residents gasp for air as AQI hits new low

After witnessing 73 farm fires in the last 24 hours, Ludhiana’s air-quality index (AQI) took a turn for the worse, plunging all the way down to 304 to fall in the “very poor” category.

Ludhiana After witnessing 73 farm fires on Monday, the district’s air-quality index (AQI) took a turn for the worse, plunging all the way down to 304 to fall in the “very poor” category.

Commuters making their way through smog in Ludhiana amid deteriorating AQI. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

As per the pollution monitoring website, National Air Quality Index, the air quality hit the season’s poorest so far.

The drop in the city’s AQI in the last 24 hours was significant as the AQI on Monday was 221. On Sunday, it stood at 282. The level had previously witnessed a significant drop, falling several notches from Saturday’s 172.

According to the national air quality index, the share of particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometres (PM 2.5), which hit the 183-mark on Diwali, also plunged to 302 on Tuesday. This comes after continued degradation over the last few days — the figure stood at 172 on Saturday, 209 on Friday and 252 on Thursday before nearing the 300-mark at 291 on Wednesday.

“PAU is considered to be the cleanest area of the city. The pollution level in Ludhiana is at par with Delhi. If the observatory would have been installed at Bharat Nagar Chowk, Chaura Bazar or Industrial Area, it would have shown much higher results,” Khurana said.

With 94, 100 and 105 incidents of paddy residue burning had been reported on the three preceding days, the total numbers of farm fires reported till October 31 climbed to 827. The figure for corresponding period last year stands at 826.