Noida’s air quality improves as wind catches pace

Weather analysts said that the air quality may further improve as the city is likely to witness rain on Saturday

The air quality of Noida on Friday improved to ‘moderate’ levels due to strong westerly winds. Weather analysts said that the air quality may further improve as the city is likely to witness rain on Saturday.

An anti smog gun deployed at Udyog Marg to tackle pollution in Noida on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) reading, on a scale of 0 to 500, for Noida on Friday was 192 (‘moderate’) against 209 (‘poor’) a day earlier. Similarly, the AQI of Greater Noida was 172 against 220 a day earlier. The air quality of Gaziabad, however, remained ‘poor’ even though showing marginal improvement within the category, with the city recording an AQI of 236 against 262 a day earlier, showed the CPCB data.

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’.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Noida and adjoining areas may see rainfall on Saturday. “Maximum temperature will hover around 30°C and minimum around 17°C on Saturday. There is a possibility of light rainfall in the region on Saturday,” said an IMD official.

Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet, said that Noida saw strong winds up to 20-25 km per hour that helped with dispersion of the pollutants and better ventilation. “A western disturbance is also approaching that may lead to change in the wind directions towards evening hours on Friday, which may drop the wind speed during night time on Friday and lead to slight spike in pollution levels. However, the winds will catch up during the daytime. There is also a possibility of light rainfall on Saturday which may further improve the air quality,” Palawat said.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), the air quality is likely to remain ‘moderate’. “In presence of dry weather and westerly wind, local dust emission will lead to high PM10. Additional dust transport from Rajasthan’s desert areas due to high wind speed and dry conditions is contributing to PM10 enhancement. Impact of fire emission is almost negligible due to faster dispersion and unfavourable wind direction. The overall AQI is forecasted to remain in moderate category for the next two days,” said a statement by Safar on Friday.