Ghaziabad’s air quality deteriorates with days left for Diwali

Ghaziabad: The air quality in Ghaziabad city is gradually deteriorating with few days remaining for the festival of Diwali

Ghaziabad: The air quality in Ghaziabad city is gradually deteriorating with few days remaining for the festival of Diwali. The Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicated that the city recorded the highest AQI in the state and the second highest in the country after Faridabad on Friday. Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 300 under the “poor” category along with Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, while Faridabad recorded the highest AQI of 312 under the “very poor” category. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) asked to enforce stage 2 of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) earlier this week in the wake of rising air pollution.

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Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 252 on October 20 under the “poor” category, and 276 the day before under the same category. The AQI reached 300 for the first time on Friday since the Grap came into effect on October 1. An AQI reading between 0 and 50 is considered ”good”, 51 and 100 is considered “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 is considered ”moderate”, 201 and 300 is considered ”poor”, 301 and 400 is considered ”very poor”, and 401 and 500 is considered ”severe”.

“The AQI is deteriorating here as a result of local traffic conditions ahead of Diwali and due to low wind speed which is resulting in lesser dispersal of pollutants. The CAQM forecast was received till October 22 and we are waiting for a further forecast on Saturday,” Utsav Sharma, regional officer, Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, said. Sharma added that measures specified by CAQM have already been adopted.

Ghaziabad is among 16 “non-attainment” cities in UP and its pollution levels generally remain on the higher side with the onset of winter. Cities are declared “non-attainment” if they do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter (PM10) or nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over a period of five years.

The city ranked as the second-most polluted city in the world after Bhiwadi in Rajasthan earlier in April this year, according to the World Air Quality Report 2021. The annual report, prepared by Switzerland-based organisation IQAir, surveyed 6,475 cities across the world.

Environmentalists said that pollution in the city is expected to rise further till Diwali and thereafter.

“It is an annual trend for the city. The rise in AQI is caused by the high volume of traffic on roads. This volume of traffic will rise further in the coming days as people will go out more during the festival. Ground-level enforcement of anti-pollution measures is hardly visible in the city. Meteorological conditions are also adding to the rise in air pollution,” Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist, said. According to the CPCB index, Greater Noida and Noida also remained under the “poor” category but recorded AQIs of 246 and 258 respectively.

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