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Ghaziabad continues to have ‘very poor’ air, Epca chief inspects Sahibabad
Ghaziabad: The air quality in Ghaziabad continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the second consecutive day on Saturday.
Ghaziabad: The air quality in Ghaziabad continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category for the second consecutive day on Saturday.
Ahead of Diwali on Sunday, the chairperson of Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (Epca) also visited Ghaziabad on Saturday and gave instructions to officials.
The air quality index (AQI) in Ghaziabad on Saturday was 303, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). According to the forecast by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, the monitoring station in Vasundhara is likely to have an AQI of 376, 792 and 365 on October 27, 28 and 29, respectively.
“The Epca chairperson, Bhre Lal, conducted an inspection in Sahibabad and pointed out some issues. He has asked us to recommend penalties against the agencies responsible for dust emanating from broken and patchy roads as well as for garbage burning outside some banquet halls. He has asked us to step measures under Grap (the graded response action plan) and to carry out strict enforcement after Diwali as well,” Utsav Sharma, regional officer of the UP Pollution Control Board, said.
“The Epca chairperson also inspected some industrial units but they were found complying with all fuel use norms. On the midnight, post Diwali celebrations, the weatherman has predicted the arrival of moisture laden air into Ghaziabad, which will hold pollutants, and it is likely to remain the same for the following couple of days. So, the pollution levels are likely to go up post Diwali, especially with emissions from the bursting of crackers,” Sharma said.
Of the four monitoring stations in Ghaziabad, the station in Indirapuram recorded an AQI in the ‘poor’ category, while the stations in Loni, Sanjay Nagar and Vasundhara recorded AQIs of very poor’, on a scale of 0 to 500, with 0 being the least polluted and 500 being the most severe. A reading between 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, while that between 301 and 400 is considered ‘very poor’.
On October 26, 2018, the Ghaziabad city recorded an AQI of 358 (very poor), while the AQI on October 27, 2018 was 404, in the ‘severe’ category.
According to the weather forecast from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which was given before the CPCB’s task force meeting on October 24, the officials had predicted that easterly winds are expected to turn to north westerly from October 27. A bit of fog is also expected a day later.
Meanwhile, the UPPCB also initiated different precautionary measures suggested during the task force meeting on October 24.
The measures that were recommended include banning of construction activities, halting operations of hot-mix plants and stone crushers from 6pm to 6am from October 26 to October 30 in Delhi-NCR; closure of coal-based industrial units in Delhi-NCR during the period; strict enforcement of Supreme Court directions regarding firecrackers; deployment of additional police personnel for managing traffic during the festival season; and zero tolerance of units using unauthorised fuel.
