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Lucknow’s AQI jumps five-fold in four days, enters ‘poor’ zone
The UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and CPCB have installed six live monitoring stations across Lucknow. At around 4 pm on Wednesday, Talkatora District Industries Centre recorded the highest AQI of 275, followed by Kendriya Vidyalaya, Aliganj, at 271.
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The first spell of winter pollution has arrived in Lucknow, with the city’s air quality slipping into the ‘poor’ category on Wednesday, four days ahead of Diwali. The AQI climbed to 223, the highest this season and the first time in 234 days that the city recorded poor air quality.
According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the city’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 223 on Wednesday. The private monitoring platform AQI.in recorded a marginally higher reading of 224.
Before November, Lucknow had recorded ‘poor’ air quality on two days in March, with the AQI at 207 on March 11 and 205 on March 8. In January, the city had six days when the AQI remained in the ‘poor’ category.
The AQI stood at 120 (moderate) on Tuesday, 77 (satisfactory) on Monday and 45 (good) on Sunday. This means the pollution level rose nearly five-fold in four days.
The deterioration follows a rise in particulate matter levels across the city, flagged by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow, on Tuesday. Its assessment of nine locations found PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations above national permissible limits, with construction activity, road digging and resuspension of road dust contributing to the rise. Amausi emerged as the most polluted location in the assessment.
The CPCB classifies AQI levels of 0-50 as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as ‘very poor’ and 401-500 as ‘severe’.
Talkatora tops city pollution chart; NCR cities worst-hit in UP
The UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and CPCB have installed six live monitoring stations across Lucknow. At around 4 pm on Wednesday, Talkatora District Industries Centre recorded the highest AQI of 275, followed by Kendriya Vidyalaya, Aliganj, at 271.
The BR Ambedkar station recorded an AQI of 219, Lalbagh 210, Gomti Nagar 200 and Kukrail Picnic Spot 165.
Several cities in western UP also recorded high pollution levels. Noida recorded an AQI of 330 and Greater Noida 309, both in the ‘very poor’ category. Bulandshahr recorded 275, Baghpat and Ghaziabad 257 each, Muzaffarnagar 243, Meerut 204 and Hapur 201.
Three-member teams to patrol city, check pollution violations
With pollution levels rising, the UPPCB has formed several teams to check violations across the city.
“These teams have three members each who will keep travelling in their respective areas and see where the pollution rules are being violated, such as non-compliance with SOPs at construction sites or burning of garbage and stubble,” said JP Maurya, regional officer, UPPCB. He said the teams would help ensure on-the-spot enforcement.
Maurya said falling temperatures could worsen air quality in the coming days. Lower temperatures could create low-pressure conditions, causing pollutants to remain suspended in the air, he added.
