Ghaziabad most polluted for fourth time since October 15

The city’s air quality index, according to the Central Pollution Control Board bulletin, was recorded at 334 (‘very poor’), the highest across the country but slightly lower than Monday’s 363

The Ghaziabad city continued to be the most polluted city in the country for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. The city’s air quality index (AQI), according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) bulletin, was recorded at 334 (‘very poor’), the highest across the country, but slightly lower than Monday’s 363.

The primary pollutant on Tuesday was PM2.5 at all the four monitoring stations at Indirapuram, Loni, Sanjay Nagar and Vasundhara. (Sakib Ali /HT)

This is the fourth time since October 15 this year, when the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) was implemented, that the city has emerged the most polluted one ahead of Diwali. The last three occasions when the city topped the pollution chart were on October 16 (with an AQI of 349), October 29 (AQI of 321) and November 1 (AQI of 363).

According to the CPCB, the primary pollutant on Tuesday was PM2.5 at all the four monitoring stations at Indirapuram, Loni, Sanjay Nagar and Vasundhara.

In neighbouring Noida, the AQI was recorded at 303, while Greater Noida’s AQI stood at 276 (‘poor’), showed the CPCB data.

“The primary pollutant (PM2.5) indicates that high traffic volume on roads has resulted in high emissions. Further, the external factors like stubble burning have also contributed to the city’s pollution. On our part, we are taking up regular inspections, including night patrolling in industrial areas and construction sites, to check for violations,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB.

“However, during the current pre-Diwali period, Ghaziabad has fared better in terms of pollution levels which are lower than the pre-Diwali days’ figures in the last year. The rise in AQI in Noida can also be attributed to the high number of vehicles on roads due to the festival season,” Sharma added.

According to the CPCB, the weekly average AQI before Diwali in 2020 was 412, as against 317 during the corresponding period this year.

An AQI reading between 101 and 200 is considered ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.

Environmentalists said that traffic snarls across Ghaziabad due to the festive season are responsible for high pollution levels. “Snarls are rampant even in small lanes and bylanes of the city. This is leading to high vehicular emission and causing city’s AQI to deteriorate,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist.

Meanwhile, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) has predicted that the AQI is likely to remain in ‘very poor’ category for the next two days in Delhi.

“Impact of stubble burning is expected to be low due to unfavourable winds coming from south-west and east direction. Share of crop residue burning emissions in PM2.5 is about 6% (effective fire count 1,795). Prevailing shallow mixing layer height reduces dispersion of pollutants,” the Safar forecast added.

It further said that from November 4 to 6, the expected share of stubble burning in PM2.5 is likely to be in the range of 20-38%.

According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality early warning system for Delhi, the air quality of the national capital is likely to remain in lower end of ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category on November 2 and 3. “The air quality is likely to be in lower end of very poor category on November 4. The air quality is likely to deteriorate on November 5 and 6 but remain in very poor category. PM2.5 to be the predominant pollutant,” the forecast added.