Air ‘severe’ in Noida, Ghaziabad; ‘very poor’ in Faridabad

The air quality in Noida and Ghaziabad deteriorated to reach “severe” level on Wednesday, while it remained “very poor” in Greater Noida and Faridabad and “poor” in Gurgaon, a government agency said.

Noida had its air quality in the “severe” category on November 15, a day after Diwali, when large parts of the National Capital Region recorded high pollution.   Presence of PM 2.5 and PM 10 pollutants also remained high in the five neighbouring cities of Delhi, according to the air quality index (AQI) maintained by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

According to the index, 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’.

The average 24-hour AQI at 4 pm on Wednesday was 444 in Ghaziabad, 414 in Noida, 394 in Greater Noida, 348 in Faridabad and 299 in Gurgaon, according to the CPCB’s Sameer app.  On Tuesday, it was 428 in Ghaziabad, 396 in Noida, 382 in Greater Noida, 360 in Faridabad and 296 in Gurgaon. It was 365 in Ghaziabad on Monday, 301 in Noida, 286 in Greater Noida, 285 in Gurgaon and 272 in Faridabad. On Sunday, the AQI was 242 in Gurgaon, 234 in Faridabad, 288 in Ghaziabad, 273 in Noida and 270 in Greater Noida, it showed.

The CPCB states that an AQI in the “poor” category may cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, while “very poor” may cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure and “severe” could affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing diseases.

The AQI for each city is based on the average value of all stations there. Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad have four stations each, while Gurgaon has three and Greater Noida two, according to the app.