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Gurugam: Air quality again moves to ‘very poor’ as wind speed slows down
The 4pm air quality index (AQI) reading of the city on Wednesday was 305, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a rise from Tuesday’s reading of 276
abhishek.behl@hindustantimes.com
With wind speed slowing down in the National Capital Region and temperature also showing a dip, the air quality of Gurugram deteriorated to ‘very poor’ category again on Wednesday, a day after pollution levels improved to ‘poor’ for the first time in the past eight days.
The 4pm air quality index (AQI) reading of the city on Wednesday was 305, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a rise from Tuesday’s reading of 276.
On Wednesday, the AQI value recorded at Teri Gram monitoring station was 277, at Sector 51 was 383, and at Gwal Pahari was 250. The monitoring station at Vikas Sadan was not functional on Wednesday.
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’.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department said that the city’s air quality is likely to deteriorate further and reach the upper end of ‘very poor’ category on Thursday. “For the next two days, the air quality is likely to remain in the very poor category. Gradual improvement is likely from November 27, with PM2.5 to be the predominant pollutant,” the IMD said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to IMD, Gurugram on Wednesday recorded the minimum temperature at 9.4°C against 10.8°C a day earlier, a dip of 1.4°C. The city recorded the maximum temperature at 26°C on Wednesday.
Sachin Panwar, a city-based air quality expert, said that in the coming days, the air quality will be ‘severe’ in the morning and evening, but during the afternoon it will turn ‘very poor’ as rise in temperature during the day would help in dispersal of pollutants. “The wind speed is around 2 to 4kmph and the temperature is also dipping, which will give rise to pollution,” he said.
He also said that things will complicate further when fog envelops the city by the start of December and gets mixed with pollutants. “The smog is even more problematic as it hovers over the city for the entire day, making breathing difficult,” said Panwar.
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) also predicted that air quality was likely to deteriorate further for the next few days, and asked the district administration to strictly implement the Grap measures and also the directions issued by the Commission of Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday.
As per the CAQM directions, the Haryana government has been asked to take steps to control industrial pollution and carry out intensive drives by senior officers and take suitable penal actions on priority. It also asked the government to ensure that older petrol and diesel vehicles without pollution certificate are not allowed to ply on roads.
“We are following CAQM orders at present. All construction sites are being monitored and we are penalising them in case they are violating any norms. We are checking if they sprinkle water around their sites to mitigate air pollution. All civic agencies are carrying out their respective role in controlling dust pollution in the district,” said Kuldeep Singh, regional officer, HSPCB.
