Noida’s air quality slips in very-poor category, may worsen further

The air quality of Noida and adjoining regions slipped into very-poor category on Monday as calm winds kept pollutants suspended in the air. Weather analysts believe

The air quality of Noida and adjoining regions slipped into very-poor category on Monday as calm winds kept pollutants suspended in the air. Weather analysts believe that the pollution levels may spike over the next two days.

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The city had been reeling under ‘poor’ category air quality over last three days despite good wind speed. On Monday, the weather analysts said that the wind directions did not change from northwesterly to easterly as expected, however their speed dropped leading to a spike in pollution levels.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the wind speed will remain calm over next two days leading to increase in the pollution levels.

“The wind speed on Monday was around 6 kmph during the morning which went down almost nil towards the evening. Due to the low wind speed, the ventilation was poor and the pollution levels increased. This situation of may prevail for the next two days and lead to even worse air quality,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.

Tuesday may see a minimum temperature of 7 °C which may spike to 9 °C by Wednesday.

According to the central pollution control board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Noida on Monday was 301 or ‘very-poor’ against 273 or ‘poor’ a day earlier. The AQI of Greater Noida was 286 against 270 a day earlier. The AQI of Ghaziabad was 365 against 288 a day earlier. The AQI between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, and between 301 and 400 is considered ‘very-poor’.

The pollution mass also increased slightly with PM2.5 for past 24-hours in Noida recorded at 156.02 microgrammes per cubic against 135.90 microgrammes per cubic metres (μg/m³) a day earlier. The PM2.5 for Greater Noida was 147.5 μg/m³ against 132.49 μg/m³ a day earlier. The safe limit for PM2.5 is 60 μg/m³.

According to the System of air quality and weather forecasting and research (SAFAR), the AQI is likely to drop further.

“The AQI is likely to deteriorate towards the high end of Very Poor by tomorrow and likely stay at the high end of Very Poor on 25th November and may reach Severe in few locations for short period. This scenario is valid if prevailing low fire counts remain but if counts increase then it may further deteriorate. Marginal improvement is expected by 26th November,” said the SAFAR statement on Monday.