Ghaziabad: Ahead of winter, UPPCB identifies six pollution hot spots

The six hot spots are Sahibabad, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Bhopra-Delhi border, Vasundhara, Siddharth Vihar and Kanawani Pushta Road

The officials of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board have identified six pollution hot spots in Ghaziabad ahead of the onset of winter. The officials said most of the hot spots have issues such as high vehicular movement, traffic congestion, construction activities and road dust, among others.

UPPCB officials said hot spots are defined every year on the basis of physical verification, flow of vehicular traffic, ongoing construction activities and observations over a period of time. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The six hot spots are Sahibabad, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Bhopra-Delhi border, Vasundhara, Siddharth Vihar and Kanawani Pushta Road.

Last year, the UPPCB identified seven hot spots of Sahibabad, Raj Nagar Extension, Loni, Bhopra-Delhi border, South Side GT Road, Sanjay Nagar and Siddharth Vihar.

UPPCB officials said hot spots are defined every year on the basis of physical verification, flow of vehicular traffic, ongoing construction activities and observations over a period of time.

“This year, the different actions under the graded response action plan (Grap) will come into effect on directions of the Commission for air quality management (CAQM) on the basis of pollution levels. In Ghaziabad, the construction of the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) project is almost complete while other major infrastructure projects such as Delhi-Meerut Expressway are also complete. The major issues are related to high vehicular movement and road conditions,” said a UPPCB official, asking not to be named.

When contacted, Vikas Mishra, the regional officer of UPPCB, Ghaziabad, said the identified hot spots have issues of traffic congestion and high volume of traffic, besides construction activities and bad roads giving rise to road dust.

“Measures such as water sprinkling, and mechanised road sweeping are taken up regularly and more intensified measures will be taken up as per directions given by CAQM. Different departments will coordinate for the pollution abatement measures,” Mishra said.

Environmentalists said the city has move hot spot areas than the six identified ones.

“The Lal Kuan intersection, industrial areas of Kavi Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Meerut crossing etc, have several traffic congestion points and should be included in the list of hot spots. The (UPPCB) officials should venture out like common man and they will surely find more hot spots in the city. The identification of hot spots should be done in a scientific manner and just not on observations,” said Vikrant Sharma, a city-based environmentalist.

The officials of the Ghaziabad traffic police could not be reached out for comments on the issue of traffic congestion.

According to UPPCB figures, the city recorded an annual average air quality index of 256 in 2017, 250 in 2018, 238 in 2019, 204 in 2020, 227 in 2021 and 206 in 2022. All these readings are in the “poor” category on the AQI scale.

The average AQI for 2023 was 181, officials added.

Recently, the Ghaziabad city was ranked 22 in a list of 47 cities, having population over 10 lakh, in the 2024 ”Swachh Vayu Survekshan (Clean Air Survey)” initiative by the Union environment ministry.

The city was placed 12th in the 2023 edition of the Clean Air Survey. The initiative ranks cities on the basis of implementation of activities approved under the city action plan and on the basis of air quality.