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Lucknow air quality worsens weeks before Diwali, AQI at 202
Out of the six AQI stations in the city, the one at Talkatora gave an average PM2.5 (particulate matter) reading of 271 between 8 pm and 12 am of the previous night; PM10 was measured at 218 in the same period.
Even with Diwali still two weeks away, the state capital’s air quality has worsened to ‘poor’, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The latest CPCB data released Monday showed that the city’s air pollution levels had broken the six-month threshold of registering air quality index (AQI) below 200. Lucknow, for the first time since May 18 (201), recorded an AQI of 202, which is considered ‘poor’. Only on October 5, the city’s AQI was ‘good’, at only 39.
Out of the six AQI stations in the city, the one at Talkatora gave an average PM2.5 (particulate matter) reading of 271 between 8 pm and 12 am of the previous night; PM10 was measured at 218 in the same period.
Before last year’s Diwali that fell on October 24, the city’s AQI was registered at 163. The recent data only suggests that the city is breathing poorer air in comparison to the pre-Diwali period of last year. On the night after Diwali, the city’s AQI had slipped to 246.
While some believed that the rising pollution level was a result of the firecrackers burnt after India beat England in a Cricket World Cup match in Lucknow, a state pollution control board official agreed to disagree.
“The pollution in the air is due to falling daily temperatures. It is only expected to increase in the coming days,” said UC Shukla, UPPCB regional officer in Lucknow. The stadium used green crackers and not enough crackers were burnt in the rest of the city to impact the air quality, he reasoned.
“With winter approaching, dust particles stay suspended in the lower atmosphere thus resulting in higher AQIs,” he added.
Departments get notices
“We have identified many hot spots of pollution in the city and have sent notices and directives to the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, Lucknow Development Authority, PWD and Traffic among others. The notice suggests steps to be taken to limit air pollution such as halting construction activities and repairing broken roads.
Toxic air in six more U.P cities
At least six cities in western U.P. also recorded ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ AQIs on Monday.
Greater Noida recorded the worst AQI of 336 followed by Noida (303), Ghaziabad (272), Hapur (266), Meerut (251) and Baghpat (244).
“Out of 160-170 industries in the state, 80 were found to be violating pollution norms and a notice was sent to them recently. Most of these industries are in western UP,” said Pradeep Sharma, chief environmental officer, UPPCB.
