Yamunanagar has been ranked 26th among the top 30 most-polluted cities in the world and found its name among nine places of Haryana and 22 in India, as per a report released by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company.
As per the report that was released earlier this week, this Haryana district has an average air quality index (AQI) of 74.5 that stands “unhealthy” based on the air quality measured in terms of levels of ultra-fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that is said to be the most harmful to human beings due to its far-reaching health risks.
An official of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HPCB), who didn’t wish to be named, said that the air quality, in this case, is measured through transport and industrial emissions, road dust, and construction activities among others.
Situated on the banks of Yamuna, the Jagadhri-Yamunanagar twin towns have many air-polluting industries engaged in timber and metal production on large scale, along with units involved in stone crushing and mining activities.
As reported in November, despite fewer stubble burning cases during the winter season, experts had agreed that dust, along with the poor quality of roads and heavy traffic movement, is major contributor to poor air quality in the district.
{{/usCountry}}As reported in November, despite fewer stubble burning cases during the winter season, experts had agreed that dust, along with the poor quality of roads and heavy traffic movement, is major contributor to poor air quality in the district.
{{/usCountry}}The regional officer of HPCB, Nirmal Kashyap, had back then also blamed owners of the industrial units for not following the guidelines and cited that the AQI measuring device has been positioned at the busiest intersection near Gobind Pura. Kashyap didn’t respond to calls and messages for a comment on the recent ranking.
DC Mukul Kumar said that he will analyse the situation with Kashyap to determine the major factors behind this.
“However, the pollution board has time and again issued instructions to the industrial and mining units to cover their trucks during transportation of their goods and other materials,” the officer said.
Other Haryana cities on the list are Faridabad, Jind, Hisar, Fatehabad, Bandhwari, Gurugram, Rohtak and Dharuhera. Neighbouring Ambala ranked 52nd with an average AQI of 58.