Air quality dips in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad as Punjab, Haryana burn stubble

The air quality over the past one week (September 29 to October 5), has deteriorated in the cities of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida with Punjab and Haryana

The air quality over the past one week (September 29 to October 5), has deteriorated in the cities of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida with Punjab and Haryana starting their annual exercise of burning crop stubble to prepare the fields for rabi (winter) crops.

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According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the average air quality index (AQI) for the past on week is inching towards the ‘poor’ category, even though winter is yet to set in. The CPCB data shows that the same period the previous year had much better air quality with the AQI remaining in ‘moderate’ and ‘satisfactory’ categories.

The average AQI for Ghaziabad was 199.86, just a few decimals shy of the ‘poor’ category, while it was 97.29 during the same period in 2019. The city had ‘poor’ AQI on five days of the week.

On a scale of 0 to 500, an AQI value above 200 is considered ‘poor’, while a value above 300 is considered ’very poor ’. A value between 100 and 200 is considered ‘moderate’ and below 100, ‘good’.

The average AQI in Noida stood at 172.71 during the week, while it was much better at 97.57 during the same period in 2019. However, unlike Ghaziabad and Greater Noida, the AQI did not reach the ‘poor’ category during the current week in Noida.

Officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the north-easterly winds currently blowing over the region are responsible for the deterioration in air quality.

“The winds are coming from Haryana and Punjab and bringing with them the pollution from stubble burning in the two states. The winds will change direction -- to slower easterlies -- in the next two or three days. This will prevent faster dispersal of pollutants,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, New Delhi.

According to statistics from the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modeling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory , an interdisciplinary research initiative of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, there have been 537 instances of residue burning in Punjab between October 1 and October 4.The number was only 63 during the same period in 2019.

In Haryana, the stubble fires during the period are 116, while they were just 49 during the same period in 2019. Likewise, Uttar Pradesh saw 33 farm fires between October 1 and 4, as against only eight during the same period in 2019.

Overall, there have been 686 instances of stubble burning during the first four days of October in the three states. This was just 120 during the same period in 2019.

The IMD officials also attributed the deterioration in AQI to less rainfall. “The last spell of heavy rain in the region was on September 6, followed by very light spells on September 7 and 8. Thereafter, we have had no rain that could have settled the pollutants. In 2019, September saw several spells of rain, which helped reduce pollutants. The coming week, too, there is no prediction of rain for the region,” Srivastava said.

Officials of the UP Pollution Control Board in Ghaziabad and Noida said they have started pollution abatement measures. “This September, we had less rain unlike the previous year. We are also keeping a tab on instances of stubble burning in rural areas. The winter action plan has already been drawn up and directions issued to different departments to take pollution abatement measures,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UPPCB, Ghaziabad.

Officials are also monitoring the two major construction sites -- Delhi-Meerut Expressway and the Regional Rapid Transit System -- to keep dust under check.

“The present deterioration in AQI in Ghaziabad is mainly due to the high readings from Loni, where several infrastructure works are in progress. Different agencies and construction sites are also in the process of purchasing anti-smog guns and installing cameras for better monitoring. We are hopeful that the AQI this winter will remain better than it did last year,” he said.

Praveen Kumar, regional officer, UPPCB, Noida, said local contributions to the deterioration in AQI was negligible. “The PM (particulate matter) 10 level has shown an increase during the past couple of days. We have already started pollution abatement measures and the authority has initiated washing of roads at night twice a week to reduce dust pollution. The police have also identified traffic congestion points and these areas are being monitored. We are also ensuring that the directions issued by the UPPCB for construction sites are being complied with,” he said.