E-Paper
Chennai air quality dips due to bursting of firecrackers on Diwali
The pollution board attributed the poor quality air to bursting of firecrackers mainly at night and high relative humidity and low wind speed in Chennai
Chennai
The air quality in Chennai was “poor to very poor” due to bursting of firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control board said on Monday.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) observed in Chennai city from 6 am on Sunday -- the Diwali day -- for 24 hours ranges between 207 and 365, which denotes that the quality status was poor to very poor, the pollution board said .
The board has set up manual monitoring stations in seven locations in Chennai – Besant Nagar, T Nagar, Nungambakkam, Triplicane, Sowcarpet, Valasaravakkam and Tiruvottiyur.
The lowest AQI value was observed at Besant Nagar at 207 and the highest at Valasaravakkam at 365.
“This year 2023 during Deepavali a reduction of 40% of AQI was observed when compared to the previous year of Deepavali 2022,” the pollution board said in a statement.
This year the AQI values for Besant Nagar, T Nagar, Nungambakkam, Triplicane, Sowcarpet, Valasaravakkam and Tiruvottiyur are 207, 306, 364, 253, 336, 365 and 227. Pre-Diwali AQI values at these places on November 5 were 38, 68, 43, 53, 58, 55 and 38.
The pollution board attributed the poor quality air to bursting of firecrackers mainly at night and high relative humidity and low wind speed in Chennai. “The weather condition is not conducive for the effective dispersion of the smoke emanated from the bursting of crackers,” the board said.
In comparison the AQI in these seven places during 2022 Diwali were 345, 372, 563, 503, 786, 545, 436.
This year, the lowest noise level value observed on the pre Diwali day on November 6 was 52.3 dB(A) [A-weighted decibel] at Tiruvottiyur and the highest noise level value was 64.7 dB(A) at Nungambakkam.
On the Diwali day on November 12, the lowest noise level value observed was 60.5 dB(A) at T Nagar and the highest noise level value was 83.6 dB(A) at Valasaravakkam, according to the pollution board data.
The noise level values observed on Diwali day are higher than National Ambient Noise Standards -- 65.0 dB(A) during day time and 55.0 dB(A) during night time, the pollution board said.
The board said that monitoring is being conducted as per Central Pollution Control Board guidelines for a period of 15 days starting from November 5 at 6am up to November 19 closing at 6am. It accounts for the week before and after Diwali day.
Meanwhile, the Chennai police have registered 554 cases against those who burst crackers beyond the 2-hour period stipulated by the Supreme Court. Another 19 cases were registered against people for bursting crackers with excessive noise. Eight cases were booked against businesses who ran their firecracker shops in violation of the rules in Tamil Nadu, a police release said.
