After brief relief, AQI slips back to ‘very poor’ in Noida and Greater Noida

Ghaziabad too saw a climb in the AQI on November 20, with a reading of 321 (very poor) as against 280 (poor) on November 19

The respite from air pollution lasted two days with the air quality once again deteriorating in Noida and Greater Noida to the “very poor” category on Monday, with an air quality index (AQI) in both cities going above 300.

Commuters cover their faces to shield themselves from the pollution on a smoggy Monday morning. Pollution control board officials blamed the rise in air pollution on the colder weather conditions. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s daily bulletin, the AQI of Noida was 331 on Monday (very poor with PM2.5 main pollutant) and that of Greater Noida was 318 (also very poor, with PM2.5 as the main pollutant). This fall in air quality comes after two days -- November 18 and 19 -- when the AQI in the two cities had remained in the “poor” category.

Ghaziabad too saw a climb in the AQI on November 20, with a reading of 321 (very poor) as against 280 (poor) on November 19. On November 18, AQI of Noida was 265 and Greater Noida was 228 while it was 268 and 236, respectively, on November 19, as per CPCB.

According to AQI scale, readings between 0 and 50 are considered ”good”, 51 and 100 are ”satisfactory”, 101 and 200 are ”moderate”, 201 and 300 are ”poor”, 301 and 400 are ”very poor”, 401 and 450 are ”severe” and above 450 as “severe+”.

In Greater Noida, air quality monitoring station in Knowledge Park 5 recorded the highest AQI (359) while AQI of Knowledge Park 3 was 285, according to the CPCB live air quality index.

Local environment activist Vikrant Tongad said, “As stated earlier, it was anticipated that the improvement in the air quality was only for a short period of time and was expected to deteriorate, given the environmental conditions. The slight improvement was precisely due to the increase in wind speed and the deterioration is also a result of weather conditions, primarily being the drop in temperatures. The local factors such as vehicular emissions, construction activities, etc, are secondary. The AQI is likely to climb in the coming days as both minimum and maximum temperatures will plunge.”

Notably, the air quality index of Noida and Greater Noida had been reeling under ‘very poor’ category post Diwali (November 12), with AQI being recorded as 363 for Noida and 342 for Greater Noida on November 13.

On November 14, AQI of Noida was 364 and Greater Noida was 348. On November 15, 360 and 338, on November 16, 355 and 340, and on November 17, 334 and 348, respectively.

The AQI of the two cities improved and remained under ‘poor’ category for two days.

Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board’s Noida regional officer Utsav Sharma said, “The rise in air pollution is due to the weather conditions and winters have almost arrived. The particulate matter tends to remain in the air for a longer period in cold weather conditions and thus, results in deterioration of air quality. The AQI is expected to climb further as the temperature starts to decrease.”

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) revoked restrictions under Stage 4 of the graded response action plan (Grap) in the National Capital Region on Saturday, while reviewing the air quality scenario in the NCR and forecasts for meteorological conditions in Delhi.

As per the India Metrological Department (IMD), the minimum temperature in Gautam Bugh Nagar on Monday stood at 12.8 degrees Celsius while the maximum temperature was recorded at 26.0 degrees Celsius. IMD has predicted similar weather conditions till November 26, with presence of mist or partly cloudy. The minimum and maximum temperature is expected to hover around 12 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively, the IMD said.