Continuous rain brings pollution levels to all time low

The intermittent showers that the city has been receiving since Saturday have helped clean up the air, with NCR cities reporting its cleanest air in a long while for this time of the year

The intermittent showers that the city has been receiving since Saturday have helped clean up the air, with NCR cities reporting its cleanest air in a long while for this time of the year. The air quality index (AQI) in Noida and Greater Noida on Tuesday was below 100, in the ”good” to ”satisfactory” categories, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s 4pm daily bulletin.

Continuous rain brings pollution levels to all time low

By October, usually, strict measures under the graded response action plan (GRAP) are in place as air quality deteriorates to the ”poor” to ”very poor” levels of the AQI scale. In fact, air quality experts said the AQI readings over the past three days in different NCR cities have been the lowest in the past five years.

“The pollution levels are definitely low for this time of the year. But they can be attributed solely to the weather conditions, as we had a late withdrawal of monsoon this year as well as a good spell of rain around mid-October, which helped settle the dust. Going forward, the pollution levels will depend much on farm fires and wind direction,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Ghaziabad.

The AQI index on Tuesday was 60 in Noida, 40 in Ghaziabad and 41 in Greater Noida. Similarly, on Monday, the AQI was 49 in Noida, 19 in Ghaziabad and 26 in Greater Noida, all in the ”good” category. Last year, on the same days, the AQI in all three cities remained between 150 and 270, in the ”satisfactory”, “moderate” and ”poor” categories.

Experts said the the weather forecast for the upcoming week suggests that the AQI will remain in the “good” zone till the end of the week. According to CPCB AQI prediction, in Noida’s Sector 125, the AQI for the next three days (October 12-14) is expected to be 18, 21 and 24 respectively.

The CPCB pollution forecast also mentions that with good wind speed, the AQI is expected to remain largely in the “moderate” category over the next six days.

However, experts said preparations have to be made to tackle bad air after this week when the Diwali season will begin and the use of crackers, especially, will have to be monitored. The National Green Tribunal on December 2, 2020, had directed a total ban on the sale and use of all kinds of firecrackers during Covid -19 pandemic in the NCR and all cities/towns in the country where the ambient air quality is in the “poor” and above category.

On Monday, while refusing to stay the NGT order, the Supreme Court said the ban is effective only in places where air quality is “poor” and the NGT ban is only on sales and not on manufacture.

Over the past years, individual states, including Uttar Pradesh, have taken a call on the sale and use of firecrackers, based on the pollution conditions.Delhi has already banned the sale and use of firecrackers till January 2023, but Uttar Pradesh is yet to take call on the matter. In the past two years, the state had banned the use of firecrackers, except the less polluting “green varieties”.

“While stubble burning cases are hardly reported in Noida, construction activities without proper precautions and covering are a concern and our teams respond to all such complaints. The activity in question is either stopped or heavy penalty is imposed on violators,” said Praveen Kumar, regional officer, UPPCB Noida.

Officials are focussing on waste disposal and management in Noida and Greater Noida to prevent instances of garbage burning. The UPPCB is also listing out precautionary steps to be taken by various departments to ensure the AQI remains low.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted ‘generally cloudy sky with light rain’ till Wednesday and partly cloudy sky for the rest of the week in NCR cities. The maximum temperature in Noida and Ghaziabad was around 30.2 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was around 20 degrees.

Gautam Budh Nagar recorded 2mm rainfall in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, according to IMD. Cumulatively, since the beginning of the month of October, the district has received 48mm rainfall, which is 1,197% excess of the normal rainfall during this period.