Lucknow records its worst air quality in three months

Lucknow recorded an AQI reading of 302 on Monday, even higher than the 246 after Diwali on October 25

The state capital Lucknow recorded ‘very poor’ air quality on Monday with a reading of 302 on the Air Quality Index (AQI) for the first time in three months, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data on Monday. The city’s AQI on Monday was even higher than the 246 recorded here after Diwali on October 25.

Dense fog enveloped Lucknow on Monday morning. (FILE PHOTO)

On Sunday, Lucknow’s AQI reading was 282, considered “poor”. The AQI has seen a 100% rise in a week, according to the CPCB data.

On December 14, Lucknow’s AQI was 105. It was 114 on December 15, 144 on December 16 and 199 on December 17.

An AQI level between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51-100 is “satisfactory”, 101-200 is “moderate”, 201-300 is “poor”, 301-400 is “very poor”, and 401-500 is “severe”.

“The rise in the AQI level is due to the decrease in temperature. As soon as the temperature decreases, the dust particles in the air become heavy and present in the atmosphere, which is aggravated by the foggy condition. There is no air movement for the last few days which is also one of the reasons why the AQI has gone up, and it is the highest in the last three months,” said UC Shukla, regional officer, UPPCB.

“We are in talks with all the concerned departments, and water sprinkling is being done to settle the dust,” Shukla added.

As many as eight cities of Uttar Pradesh recorded poor air quality on Monday. The AQI level in Greater Noida was the second highest in the country with a reading of 442 (severe), only behind Begusarai (471) even beating New Delhi, which recorded 410 AQI.

Other Uttar Pradesh cities with poor air quality were Noida (377), Ghaziabad (373), Khurja (294), Muzaffarnagar (284), Bulandshahr (266), Meerut (223) and Kanpur (294).