On Christmas day, Noida and Ghaziabad breathe worst quality of air in country despite improvement

After suffering “severe” level of air quality for the last three days, Noida’s air quality improved slightly to read “very poor” on Christmas due to faster winds

After suffering “severe” level of air quality for the last three days, Noida’s air quality improved slightly to read “very poor” on Christmas due to faster winds on Friday.

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However, despite the improvement, Ghaziabad and Noida continued to be the top-two cities in the country with the worst. Greater Noida was the fourth most polluted and neighbouring Bulandshahr was third of the 127 cities mapped on Friday.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Noida, on a scale from 0 to 500, on Friday was 386, as against 441 and 462 on Thursday and Wednesday, respectively.

Greater Noida’s AQI was 376 as against 448 on Thursday (when it was the most polluted city in the country) and 476 on Wednesday. The Ghaziabad AQI was 391, as against 440 a day earlier and 472 on Wednesday.

The AQI between 101 to 200 is considered ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is considered ‘very-poor’ and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.

The India Meteorological Department forecasts better ventilation and wind speed on Saturday and Sunday leading to further improvement.

“The wind speed on Thursday reached up to 18 kmph during the afternoon, while for the entire day it was around 15 kmph on an average. Which is better than 4-5 kmph a day earlier. The wind speed may pickup on Saturday as well leading to further improvement but will soon start falling towards the year end,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.

The fine particles or pollutants PM2.5 levels improved on Friday yet they were 4.5 times higher the safe limit against 7 times a day earlier.

On Friday, PM2.5 for past 24-hours in Noida was recorded at 224.63 microgrammes per cubic metres against 350.18 units on Thursday.

The PM2.5 for Greater Noida was 247.31 units against 355.48 microgrammes per cubic metres a day earlier. The PM2.5 levels for Ghaziabad on was 284.83 units against 364.56 microgrammes per cubic metres a day earlier. The safe limit for PM2.5 is 60 units.

According to the System of air quality and weather forecasting and research (SAFAR), the AQI is likely to improve over next three days.

“The overall air quality has improved to the Very Poor category as forecasted. AQI is forecasted to improve to the middle-end of the Very Poor category on 26th and 27th Dec, and likely to further improve on 28th December,” said the SAFAR statement on Friday.