Season’s all-time high stubble burning contribution affects air quality of Noida, Ghaziabad

Ghaziabad: It has been eleven days in a row on Sunday since October 22 that Noida and Ghaziabad have remained under the ‘very poor’ category of air quality. The

Ghaziabad: It has been eleven days in a row on Sunday since October 22 that Noida and Ghaziabad have remained under the ‘very poor’ category of air quality. The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) has said that the share of stubble burning in pollution went to about 40% on Sunday, the season’s highest, which contributed majorly to the deteriorating air quality.

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On Sunday, the air quality index (AQI) values for Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida were recorded in higher ranges of ‘very poor’ and stood at 384, 388 and 384, respectively, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

As per SAFAR, the previous highest share of stubble burning in air pollution in the national capital region was 36% on October 29.

“In spite of improved wind conditions, air quality has not progressed as expected due to high stubble-related intrusion and trapping of pollutants during night time due to low wintertime boundary layer height. However, it has not deteriorated further due to continued favourable North-northwesterly boundary level wind direction. The highly favourable conditions for fire-related intrusion in Delhi expected to continue,” the SAFAR forecast said.

As per the forecast, the SAFAR-synergised stubble fire counts over Punjab, Haryana, UP, Uttarakhand, and neighbouring areas impacting air stood at 3,216 on Saturday.

“Stubble burning share in PM2.5 has increased and is estimated as 40% for today (Sunday), the highest of the season. A better ventilation condition is forecasted for the next two days... It is set to marginally deteriorate on 3rd November,” the SAFAR forecast further added.

Meanwhile, officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) have predicted that favourable meteorological conditions will prevail for the next two-three days which will help speedy dispersal of pollutants.

“It is expected that the pollution levels will not rise for the next two-three days as there will be wind speed which will help in dispersal of pollutants. On Sunday, the wind speed was about 18-21kmph during day time and temperature also went up to 30.8 degrees Celsius. It is likely to remain in the range of 30-31 degrees Celsius for the next three days and this will also help in dispersal of pollutants,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s Regional Weather Forecasting Centre.

According to official statistics of the Consortium for Research on Agroecosystem Monitoring and Modelling from Space (CREAMS) Laboratory, there have been a total of 30,999 stubble fire incidents in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh from October 1 to October 30, with Punjab alone accounting for 27,088 of these. The stubble fire counts stood at 25,778 during the same period last year.

Praveen Kumar, regional officer of UP pollution control board (UPPCB) at Noida said that they are focussing more on local pollution sources. “We are focussing to maintain enforcement and curb the local pollution sources. We are maintaining strict vigil for such sources and trying to increase our activities to curb pollution,” he added.

In Greater Noida, only monitoring station at Knowledge Park V spiked to ‘severe’ category on Sunday, while none of the four stations in Noida went to ‘severe’ category.

In Ghaziabad, the monitoring station at Loni went to the ‘severe’ category on Sunday, besides the one at Sanjay Nagar.

“Till now, we had only the Loni station which frequently went to ‘sever’ category. On Sunday, Sanjay Nagar monitoring station also went to ‘severe’ category. We are monitoring all four stations and taking appropriate measures at Sanjay Nagar. The overall AQI in Ghaziabad deteriorated due to 40% contribution of stubble burning. We are trying to keep in check the local factors as well,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB, Ghaziabad.