Air quality worst in three years in Noida, Ghaziabad; AQI in ‘severe’ zone for fifth day in a row

Ghaziabad: The average air quality index (AQI) of Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida from October 1 to November 9 this year has surpassed that of 2018 and 2019 of

Ghaziabad: The average air quality index (AQI) of Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida from October 1 to November 9 this year has surpassed that of 2018 and 2019 of the same period, an analysis of data from the Central Pollution control Board (CPCB) shows. Meanwhile, the three cities recorded “severe” category air quality for the fifth consecutive day on Monday, with Monday’s index the highest spike in the past five days.

The figures of the CPCB state that AQI levels for Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida stood at 482, 478 and 477, respectively, on the higher side of the “severe” category. With the spike in pollution levels pre-Diwali, this year’s average AQI from October 1 to November 9 stood at 311, 313 and 295 for Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida, respectively.

In comparison, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida and Noida recorded an average AQI of 291, 282 and 279, respectively, during the same period in 2019, while the same in 2018 was 281, 293 and 288, respectively.

“Since the AQI levels have been in the “severe” category for the past five days, the district administration has directed agencies to halt operations of hot-mix plants. They have been told to resume operations once pollution levels decline. Further, measures such as water sprinkling, use of anti-smog guns and mechanical road sweeping have been intensified,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

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.”

Experts said the spike in pollution levels is due to slow wind speed on Monday.

“The wind speed on Monday was averaging about three to four kmph, which is not favourable for dispersal of trapped pollutants. Also, the wind direction has been north-westerly, which has been bringing in the aftermath of stubble-burning. Going by the forecast, it is likely that the NCR will have no rains up to November 14,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, Delhi.

The IMD officials had said that the wind direction will change to easterly around November 10 or 11, after which there will be a period of one or two days of stagnation of wind, which is likely to raise pollution levels again.

The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar), a private weather forecasting agency, said in a bulletin Monday that the Delhi region faces low dispersion, along with high fire-related intrusion, which has led to the accumulation of pollutants near the surface.

“No quick recovery is expected unless a drastic reduction in fire counts takes place... The Safar synergised that stubble fire counts over Punjab, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand and neighbouring areas have marginally reduced since last reported but still very high and stood at 3,257 yesterday,” it said in its bulletin for 24 hours released Monday.

The Safar forecast added that the share of stubble burning in PM2.5 levels in Delhi’s air is estimated as 38% for Monday.

“In terms of magnitude with reference to current levels of PM2.5 in micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3), this percentage is translated to be one of the highest mass loadings (140µg/m3) in the season,” it added.

According to the Consortium for Research on Agro-ecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (Creams) Laboratory, the total instances of crop residue burning from October 1 to November 8 stood at a total of 69,250 this year, while the same was 48,196 in last year and 53,373 in 2018 during the same period, across the three states of Punjab, Haryana and UP.

Of the total counts during the same period in 2020, 2019 and 2018, Punjab’s share stood at 63,122, 40,859 and 43,009, respectively.