Air quality hits ‘very poor’ level a day before Diwali

A day before Diwali, air quality plunged to the ‘very poor’ category of the Central Pollution Control Board’s classification, with an air quality index (AQI) reading of 330 on Wednesday, after four consecutive days of ‘poor’ air

A day before Diwali, air quality plunged to the ‘very poor’ category of the Central Pollution Control Board’s classification, with an air quality index (AQI) reading of 330 on Wednesday, after four consecutive days of ‘poor’ air. Residents and police officials said they will ensure that the blanket ban on cracker use is followed strictly even as instances of cracker bursting were reported from across the city on Wednesday evening.

Residents and police officials said they will ensure that the blanket ban on cracker use is followed strictly even as instances of cracker bursting were reported from across the city on Wednesday evening. (Vipin Kumar /HT PHOTO)

On Sunday, the Gurugram district administration had issued an order enforcing the state government’s order of a blanket ban on the sale or use of all kinds of firecrackers, including green ones, in the district. The order stated, “Any person found guilty of violation of this order shall be prosecuted and punished as per law under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.”

The city police have written to all residents’ welfare associations to monitor their respective areas and inform them if anyone is found violating the orders. Until now, 25 people have been booked in the district for violating the orders.

KK Rao, the commissioner of police, said, “Special teams have been formed to keep a check on the sale and use of crackers in the city. All police stations have been directed to keep a check in their areas and to take strict action against the violators.”

Prior to Wednesday, Gurugram reported ‘very poor’ air quality on October 16 and 17, when the air quality dipped due to a drop in temperatures. On Wednesday, neighbouring Faridabad also recorded ‘very poor’ air quality and Manesar reported ‘poor’ quality of air, with AQIs of 337 and 282, respectively.

According to the forecast of the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, the air quality in the National Capital Territory is likely to deteriorate further on Thursday but remain in the ‘very poor’ category. The air quality is likely to reach the upper end of the ‘very poor’ category on Friday and Saturday, after which it is expected to start improving marginally from Sunday due to strong winds. Over the next few days, levels of particulate matter having a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) is expected to spike in the region.

On Thursday and Friday, the mixing depth of pollutants is likely to remain at 2,000 metres and 1,900 metres, respectively, with ventilation indices of 8,000 m2/s on Thursday and 10,000 m2/s on Friday. A ventilation index lower than 6,000 m2/s with an average wind speed less than 10 kmph is unfavourable for the dispersion of pollutants. On these two days, the wind speed is likely to remain between 4 kilometres per hour (kmph) and 8kmph.

Residents said that they have constituted quick response teams for patrolling their respective areas along with police officials to ensure that the ban on crackers is followed.

Gaurav Wahi, a member of a ‘Suraksha’ team from DLF Phase-2, said, “We have eight quick response teams within our area who will be patrolling on bikes. If any resident is found bursting crackers, we will stop them ourselves; if they do not listen to us, then police officials will be informed.”

Mahesh Kumar, the president of DLF City Phase-3 residents’ body, said, “In the whole of DLF-3, there are 14 quick response teams, seven each for day and night. Along with them, a supervisor will also be on rounds. All residents are already sensitised about impacts of the bursting of crackers and are supporting us, but still, the teams will be patrolling to ensure that it is stopped completely.”