Ghaziabad air plunges to ‘very poor’ after seven months

Ghaziabad: For the first time since February, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Ghaziabad deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ category, on Monday. According to the Indian

Ghaziabad: For the first time since February, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Ghaziabad deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ category, on Monday. According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the primary reason for the rise in pollution levels is the increasing instances of stubble burning in states such as Punjab and Haryana.

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Going by the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) figures on Monday, AQI levels in Ghaziabad stood at 302, just under the ‘very poor’ category. According to the records of CPCB, Ghaziabad AQI was observed in the ‘very poor’ category last on February 26. That same month, the city saw 11 days of ‘very poor’ category AQI.

On Monday, the city was among the only four – Baghpat, Kurukshetra and Panipat – across the country to have ‘very poor’ air quality.

“The AQI levels are being affected primarily by the trend of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. They are also aided by the north-westerly winds which are bringing in pollutants. Further, wind speed has plunged to five-six kilometre per hour (kmph), which has further led to slower dispersal of pollutants. Apart from these, local pollutants have also aided to the deterioration of air quality,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, New Delhi.

Official statistics of the Consortium for Research on Agro-Ecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (Creams) Laboratory – a Division of Agricultural Physics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, in New Delhi, show that from October 1 to 11 Punjab recorded at least 1,804 instances of stubble burning, as compared to 508 during the same period last year.

In Haryana, such instances during the same period this year have been 488, while 546 were recorded during the same period last year.

“We are expecting a change in wind direction – from north-westerly to easterly – with high wind speed in the next two-three days. This will lead to a spike in pollution levels but thereafter, it will become better,” Srivastava added.

Meanwhile, the two neighbouring cities of Noida and Greater Noida stood under the ‘poor’ category, with AQI levels at 274 and 292, respectively, on Monday.

According to the official records of the Uttar Pradesh pollution control board (UPPCB), Ghaziabad recorded 67 days in 2019 under the ‘very poor’ AQI category, while it reeled under the ‘severe’ category on a total of 31 days. AQI under the ‘poor’ category was recorded on a total of 112 days last year.

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, however, stressed on the need for a uniform pollution abatement policy for the entire National Capital Region (NCR), not just for Delhi.

“For instance, if we implement the odd-even system only in Delhi, it will not have much impact on air pollution prevalent in other areas of NCR. So, there is much need for uniform pollution abatement policy for the entire NCR, which should cover at least 100km of area. If the various districts implement different policies at their local level, it will not have much impact on the reduction of pollution,” said Ashish Jain, founder and director of Delhi-based Indian Pollution Control Association.

“In cities such as Ghaziabad, and further in western UP, we have issues related to operation of diesel vehicles and brick kilns, which aide pollution,” he added.

Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said that the conditions are better this year, as compared to the previous year.

“The rise in AQI levels is due to localised conditions prevailing at Loni and Sanjay Nagar. There are some construction activities going on in Loni which we will tackle, while a team was sent to Sanjay Nagar where there is a bus stand and loose soil close to an air quality monitoring station. Last year, we had requested the CPCB to allow us to shift the Sanjay Nagar station elsewhere but they had denied. So, our teams are taking up resolution of issues and will get these resolved in a couple of days,” the DM said.

Two of the monitoring stations, out of a total of four, which largely affected the AQI level of Ghaziabad, are the ones at Loni and Sanjay Nagar. These two stations recorded high levels of AQI under ‘very poor’ category, with 326 for Loni and 337 for Sanjay Nagar according to the figures of CPCB on Monday.

Meanwhile, the AQI for the other two stations in Ghaziabad, located at Indirapuram and Vasundhara, was 286, and 265, respectively, on Monday, according to the CPCB’s daily 4pm bulletin.