A day after Dussehra, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida most polluted across country

Officials of the UP Pollution Control Board said that the sharp rise in pollution levels was a result of burning of effigies in NCR, high volumes of traffic and other external factors

A day after the Dussehra celebrations, pollution levels of Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida spiked to “very poor” category on Saturday, with Ghaziabad emerging as the most polluted city across the country, according to the air quality index (AQI) figures of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A view of the New Link Road bridge in Ghaziabad on Saturday. (Sakib Ali /HT)

The AQI data also revealed that Greater Noida was the second most polluted city in the country.

On Saturday, the AQI for Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida stood at 349, 312 and 330, respectively. A day earlier, the AQI of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida was under “poor” category at 235 and 241, respectively, while that of Noida was recorded at 192 (“moderate”).

According to CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”.

Officials of the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said that the sharp rise in pollution levels was a result of burning of effigies in NCR, high volumes of traffic and other external factors. They also said that it is for the first time this season that the AQI of the three cities spiked to “very poor” category.

“The reason for spike can be attributed to the Dussehra celebrations on Friday and high volume of traffic on the roads. In Ghaziabad, except for the Indirapuram air monitoring station, the primary pollutant at the three other stations was PM2.5 which affected the overall AQI,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB, Ghaziabad.

During the morning hours, several stretches of National Highway 9 remained under hazy conditions which only improved in the afternoon.

“In Noida, the three monitoring stations at sectors 1, 125 and 116 witnessed a spike in air pollution levels around 4am on Saturday, but the situation improved a bit in the afternoon. The Noida Sector 62 and Indirapuram stations are close to each other, and their primary pollutant was PM10. Some external factors like stubble burning also added to the pollution levels,” said Sharma, who is also officiating for Noida city.

Bhuvan Yadav, UPPCB regional officer for Greater Noida, said that unfavourable meteorological conditions made the situation worse. “Due to low wind speed, there was less dispersal of pollutants, and the accumulation led to the spike in pollution levels. This pattern is mostly observed during winter season,” he added.

Meanwhile, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) stated on Saturday that the fire counts in neighbouring states stood at 1,572.

“With 1572 effective fire counts, the stubble burning contribution in Delhi’s air has suddenly increased to 14%. Fire counts are gradually increasing, and wind direction is favourable and coming from north-west direction at transport level for intrusion,” the forecast said.

It further added that the AQI will remain under the “moderate” category starting Monday. The Safar also said that there is a likelihood of rainfall in the region under the influence of western disturbance.

Environmentalists said that the vehicular movement during the festivities is largely responsible for spike in pollution levels. “Apart from the external factors, traffic on roads increased due to festivities and it led to spike in PM2.5 levels. Burning of effigies alone cannot be held responsible for the spike. Due to the pandemic, there were restrictions and many Ramlila committees in the city did not burn effigies. Those who did prepared small effigies and burnt them symbolically without firecrackers,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist.