Greater Noida’s air turns ‘severe’, Noida’s worsens

The air quality in the city worsened once again on Thursday due to the unfavourable weather conditions. Meanwhile, Ghaziabad continued to remain the top polluted

The air quality in the city worsened once again on Thursday due to the unfavourable weather conditions. Meanwhile, Ghaziabad continued to remain the top polluted city of the country with “severe” air quality level. Same was the case with Greater Noida, while Noida continued to suffer from “very poor” air.

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According to the weather analysts, the slowing down of the northwesterly winds during the morning and night hours, leaves a smaller window during the afternoon for the dispersal of pollutants. Further, the winds are also carrying in smoke from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, where stubble burning is still raging.

“On Thursday, the maximum wind speed was 10kmph. However it was not enough to disperse the pollutants given the current weather conditions. The wind speed may slightly increase on Thursday, but will drop again on Friday due to an approaching western disturbance,” said Mahesh Palawat, director, private weather forecasting agency Skymet.

According to the central pollution control board’s (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI), Noida recorded a reading of 394 as against 387 a day earlier. The AQI of Greater Noida was 406 as against 388 a day earlier. Meanwhile, Ghaziabad continued to be under the ‘severe’ category with an AQI of 421 as against 424 a day earlier.

The quantity of fine particles or pollutants in the air also spiked with PM2.5 levels touching three to five times higher than the safe limit. PM2.5 for past 24 hours in Noida was recorded at 255.66 micrograms per cubic metres as against 183.99 micrograms per cubic metres a day earlier. The PM2.5 for Greater Noida was 269.52 units as against 243.24 units a day earlier. The PM2.5 for Ghaziabad was 302.79 units as against 309.17 units a day earlier.

According to the system of air quality and weather forecasting and research (SAFAR), air quality in the city is likely to fluctuate over the next three days with a slight improvement on Thursday, followed by a slight deterioration two days later.

“Air quality is likely to marginally improve with in the ‘very poor’ for tomorrow (Thursday) owing to slightly better ventilation condition. By December 4, ventilation conditions are likely to slow down again and deterioration in AQI is expected. The higher end of the very poor category is forecasted for December 5,” read the SAFAR statement on Wednesday.