First time post-Diwali, Ghaziabad, Noida air plunges to ‘very poor’ level

The air quality index (AQI) for the three cities stood at 314, 305 and 319, respectively, on Monday according to the daily bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

The pollution levels in the three cities of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida plunged into the “very poor” category on Monday for the first time since Diwali, officials aware of the matter said, adding that the air quality is likely to remain “very poor” in the coming days due to prevailing unfavourable meteorological conditions.

A blanket of smog covers Noida on Monday. (PTI)

The air quality index (AQI) for the three cities stood at 314, 305 and 319, respectively, on Monday according to the daily bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The three cities were largely affected by PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter, triggered by vehicular pollution, dusty conditions, bursting of firecrackers and also due to impact of stubble burning in neighbouring states.

“The meteorological conditions have become unfavourable with low wind speeds, especially during night, and also lowering of temperature. These factors are becoming unfavourable for dispersal of pollutants. If these conditions prevail, AQI will remain in higher ranges till pollutants disperse,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer from the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board.

According to CPCB, AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, between 51 and 100 is considered “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 is considered “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, 401 and 450 “severe”, and more than 450 is considered “severe plus”.

After Diwali, Ghaziabad city recorded an AQI of 306 on November 1 and 330 on November 2, before AQI surged to above 300 on Monday. According to CPCB, the two monitoring stations of Loni and Vasundhara in Ghaziabad recorded AQI in the higher ranges of “very poor” with 24-hourly figures of 383 and 322, respectively, till 4pm on Monday.

“The local factors and impact of stubble burning, coupled with unfavourable meteorological conditions, have started impacting air quality post-Diwali. Local conditions such as bad roads, roadside dust and massive volumes of traffic are largely impacting air quality. The government must act now on war footing to abate such conditions,” said Vikrant Sharma, a Ghaziabad-based environmentalist.

Noida and Greater Noida

Noida recorded “very poor” AQI at 313 on November 3 and the trend continued on Monday. In Noida, stations at Sector 135, Sector 62m and Sector 116 reported AQI figures of 313, 349 and 323, respectively.

Greater Noida recorded “very poor” AQI on Monday for the first time post-Diwali.

In Greater Noida, both the monitoring stations at Knowledge Park 3 and 5 recorded AQI of 309 and 301 respectively.

Delhi

Delhi’s air quality remained in the higher end of the “very poor” category for the second straight day on Monday with a visible haze around the city. The 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 381 (very poor) at 4 pm on Monday.

According to the system for air quality management for Delhi, the contribution of stubble burning to PM2.5 mass in Delhi stood at 35.175%, 14.96% and 19.72% on November 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

The air quality early warning system for Delhi said on Monday that “meteorological conditions are likely to be extremely unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants” besides the average wind speed of less than 10kmph during November 4-7 “is unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants.”