With AQI at 488, Noida overtakes Ghaziabad to be most polluted city in India

It is the second time this season, ever since the Graded Response Action Plan was implemented on October 15, that Noida has emerged as the most polluted in the country. he last time the city was this polluted was on November 5, a day after Diwali

Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida experienced the worst pollution levels this season as the air quality index (AQI) spiked to the higher end of the ‘severe’ category on Friday.

A view of a skyscraper blanketed in smog in Noida on Friday, the day the air quality index was highest in the country at 488 (Sunil Ghosh/HT photo)

According to the AQI bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), with an AQI of 488, Noida was the most polluted city in the country on Friday, a spot occupied by Ghaziabad on at least seven days this season. On Friday, the AQI in Ghaziabad was 486, making it the second most polluted city.

The pollution levels in Greater Noida were no better with the city recording an AQI of 478.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

It is the second time this season, ever since the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) was implemented on October 15, that Noida has emerged as the most polluted in the country. The last time the city was this polluted was on November 5, a day after Diwali.

On the other hand, Ghaziabad was the most polluted in the country on seven days-- October 16, 29, November 1, 2, 6, 10 and 11.

Since November 4--the day Diwali was celebrated, Ghaziabad has been experiencing ‘severe’ air for nine days till Friday (November 12). In comparison, Noida has had eight days of ‘severe’ air, barring November 10, while Greater Noida had five such days.

“The entire Ghaziabad/Noida region has seen considerable spike in pollution levels due to the inversion layer, which has come down due to low temperature. As a result, the dispersion of pollutants, including those from external sources as well as local sources, is becoming difficult. This is why there is a spike in pollution levels and this phase may last for a couple of days as the mercury is likely to drop further,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, Ghaziabad.

“The north westerly winds are bringing in the stubble fires from neighbouring states, which was about 35% (on Friday) with no decline in fire counts. On our part, we have asked the local agencies to increase water sprinkling and road sweeping to control dust, which causes spike in PM10 levels,” said Sharma.

According to the CPCB records, all the four air quality monitoring stations each in Noida and Ghaziabad, besides the two in Greater Noida, touched the 500-mark for PM2.5 concentrations in past 24 hours ending on Friday. Officials said that the PM2.5 concentrations are this high due to low temperatures at night.

The forecast by the System of air quality and weather forecasting and research (Safar) on Friday said that ‘severe’ pollution is likely to be there on Saturday due to increase in stubble related fire counts and increase in transport level wind speed at night.

“The effective fire count increased to 4,056 today (Friday). Today’s share of crop residue burning is about 35% in PM2.5. Drop in minimum temperature is likely for the next two days resulting in air quality to be in ‘severe’ to upper end of ‘very poor’ category,” the Safar forecast said on Friday.

The sub-committee of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), after a meeting on November 12, directed the concerned states and implementing agencies to be ready for implementation of measures listed under the ‘emergency’ category of the Grap.

The committee directed that its previous orders of November 8 about measures under the ‘severe’ category of Grap should be followed stringently. It also advised all the government/private and other establishment to reduce vehicle usage by at least 30% by way of encouraging work from home, car-pooling and optimising the field activities. It has also advised people to limit outdoor activities and minimise exposure.

Officials of the committee said the air quality exceeded the threshold limit of 500 micrograms per cubic metre (mpcm) for PM10 and 300 mpcm for PM2.5 at 01.00 hours and 03.00 hours on Friday. They also said meteorological conditions for dispersal of pollutants will be highly unfavourable till November 18.

The deteriorating air quality in the region is spelling horror for residents who are struggling with a host of respiratory issues.

“I developed severe asthma attack early Friday morning. One of my friends rushed me to the hospital, where I was given immediate treatment, including injections. I have been facing difficulty in breathing due to the high pollution levels,” said Anil Kumar, one of the patients in the out-patient department of Sanjay Nagar Combined District Hospital in Ghaziabad.

Health experts said people who have asthma problems and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are having respiratory issues due to high level of pollution.

“We have to increase the dose of medicine for such patients. There are many others, whose condition is getting worse and need hospitalisation. There are young patients who travel a lot and have developed issues such as bronchitis, upper respiratory tract infections and allergies,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad chapter).

“Since Diwali, there has been a 60-70% increase in the number of patients coming in with respiratory problems and the numbers have not declined. It is advisable for people to wear N-95 mask, which provides better protection against pollutants, or a medical mask in case the N-95 mask is not available. We also advise people, who are immuno-compromised, to take up flu vaccination (yearly) and pneumococcal vaccination which is taken once in every five years,” Dr Agarwal added.