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Greater Noida, Ghaziabad most polluted in country
Noida: The air quality of Noida fell from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ levels on Tuesday, while that of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida tuned ‘very poor’ due to sudden drop in the wind speed, according to the monitoring agencies
Noida: The air quality of Noida fell from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ levels on Tuesday, while that of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida tuned ‘very poor’ due to sudden drop in the wind speed, according to the monitoring agencies.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), which monitors 126 cities across the country, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad turned out to be the most polluted cities on Tuesday.
The air quality index (AQI) of Noida on Tuesday was 293 against 192 a day earlier, as per CPCB data. Similarly, AQI of Greater Noida was 339 against 196 a day earlier, while Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 334 against 230 on Monday.
An AQI level up to 100 is considered ‘good’, between 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’ and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.
“The wind speed dropped slightly on Tuesday but it is expected to rise by Friday,” said an official at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
“There had been some thundery activities over pockets of NCR, leading to dusty winds that affect the air quality. There are chances of rains on March 12. If there is a moderate rain, then it will improve the air quality,” Said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change), Skymet.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality may deteriorate over the next two days due to moderate wind speed but will improve by the end of the week.
“Surface winds are east-northeasterly and moderate. A decrease in surface wind speed is forecasted. This can cause a slight decrease in ventilation and marginal deterioration in air quality for the next two days. AQI is likely to stay in the poor to the lower end of the very poor category for the next two days. An increase in ventilation is expected on 12th and AQI likely to improve to the poor to moderate category. Thunderstorms and local dust lifting are likely at isolated places for the next two days,” said a SAFAR statement on Tuesday.
