Ghaziabad out of ‘severe’ pollution zone, but spike likely in next 10 days

According to the CPCB, the AQI for Ghaziabad declined to 362 on Wednesday after it touched 451 on Tuesday. The ‘severe’ category conditions prevailed in Ghaziabad from October 27 to October 30.

Witnessing ‘severe’ air quality index (AQI) since October 27, Ghaziabad on Wednesday registered a decline in pollution levels which came down to the ‘very poor’ category as per figures released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Noida also registered decline in pollution levels on Wednesday, a day after its AQI had risen to ‘severe’ category on Tuesday.

The Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) said Wednesday that in the next 10 days, pollution levels in Ghaziabad will see a spike due to weather conditions. (Sakib Ali /HT Photo)

According to the CPCB, the AQI for Ghaziabad declined to 362 on Wednesday after it touched 451 on Tuesday. The ‘severe’ category conditions prevailed in Ghaziabad from October 27 to October 30.

On October 29 and 30, the city topped the list of most polluted cities in the country. On Wednesday, in Greater Noida and Noida, AQI was ‘very poor’ at 383 and 347, respectively.

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’.

However, the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) said Wednesday that in the next 10 days, pollution levels will see a spike due to weather conditions.

“This is because there is a western disturbance system in north India which is bringing moisture and a cyclonic system on the eastern side which is suppressing winds. Besides this, there is increased burning of paddy straw in Punjab and Haryana, as is evident in images released by NASA. The direction of the wind is now from the northwest. All this, combined with Delhi-NCR’s own pollution sources, could lead to a spike in pollution in the coming 10 days,” EPCA said in a statement.

To tackle pollution conditions, officials Gautam Budh Nagar district administration said they will be roping in the fire department to contain dust pollution.

“We will be sprinkling water using fire brigade equipment to control dust. We are also passing an order to stop all construction in the district. No residential or commercial construction work will continue from Thursday,” BN Singh, district magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, said.

Officials of the UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said they have identified 316 polluting units in Ghaziabad.

“Of these, we will identify units which use coal and biomass fuel. These will be shutdown from November 4 as directed by EPCA. We have shut eight units found violating pollution norms. Measures such as water sprinkling, patrolling of industrial areas and mechanised road sweeping are going on regularly,” AK Tiwari, regional manager of the UPPCB, said.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had prohibited the plying of 15-year-old petrol and 10-year-old diesel vehicles in the NCR and directed the transport department to announce that such vehicles would be impounded if found plying.

In this connection, the regional transport office has identified a total of 2,70,827 petrol and diesel vehicles, which are more than the age limit set by the apex court, in the Ghaziabad transport region.

The region comprises of four districts – Ghaziabad, Noida, Bulandshahr and Hapur.

According to official statistics by the department on October 30, Ghaziabad has 1,23,195 such vehicles, Noida 53,680, Bulandshahr 92,623 while Hapur has 1,329 such vehicles. “Our enforcement teams are working to impound such vehicles plying on roads. We have issued the registration series of such vehicles to the traffic police and administration too for action,” Vishwajeet Pratap Singh, additional regional transport officer, said. A similar set was prepared by the Noida transport department as well.

Officials said all construction activities involving excavation and civil construction (excluding internal finishing/work where no construction material is used) will be stopped in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar from November 1-10 as directed by EPCA.

Officials will also close down all stone crushers, hot mix plants and brick kilns during this period.