E-Paper
Rain cleans UP air, AQI below 100 in most cities
Lucknow: Many cities in Uttar Pradesh are breathing relatively cleaner air, as rain caused by the progressing monsoon and accompanied with strong winds in the past few days has washed away the pollutants and helped in improving the Air Quality Index (AQI), as per the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
Lucknow: Many cities in Uttar Pradesh are breathing relatively cleaner air, as rain caused by the progressing monsoon and accompanied with strong winds in the past few days has washed away the pollutants and helped in improving the Air Quality Index (AQI), as per the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The AQI in major UP cities was recorded below 100 on Sunday.
The AQI of Lucknow was 48, of Kanpur 44, Ghaziabad 94, Agra 62, Meerut 41, Prayagraj 29 and Varanasi 61.
Most of these cities record an average AQI above 300 every year and figure among the most polluted cities in the country.
According to the CPCB classification, AQI below 100 is termed satisfactory with minimum impact on human health. AQI between 101 to 200 is categorised as moderate with very little impact on human health while AQI between 201 and 300 is poor, between 301 and 400 is very poor and above 400 is severe.
According to experts, the above average rainfall across the state has led to improvement in the air quality. The state recorded more than 40 mm of rainfall in June. “The state recorded around 5 days of rainfall caused by the progressing south-west monsoon, causing rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds in most parts of the state,” said director of state MeT department JP Gupta. “The rainfall helps settle particulate matter and other pollutants suspended in the air, thus cleaning the atmosphere. This leads to a considerable drop in AQI reading,” he explained.
Experts feel that the coming monsoon may help to keep the AQI across UP in check. “The AQI of UP cities will remain better during the monsoon. But these changes are temporary that will subside post the monsoon. The citizens and decision-makers must try to make arrangements so that we can have cleaner air all around the year, not only for a short duration,” said senior environmentalist Devesh Kumar.
