Short breather for Noida, Ghaziabad as air quality improves

Noida: The residents of Noida and Ghaziabad received a short respite as the air quality improved due to ventilation of pollutants, brought about by an increase in

Noida: The residents of Noida and Ghaziabad received a short respite as the air quality improved due to ventilation of pollutants, brought about by an increase in wind speed.

HT Image

Ghaziabad and Greater Noida, which were in the “severe” category of pollution on Saturday, improved to “very poor” category on Sunday, while Noida improved to the lower end of the “very poor” category on Sunday, from the higher end of this category on Saturday.

The air quality this month has so far oscillated between the “very poor” and the “severe” category, according to the air quality index (AQI) data of the Central Pollution Control Board.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), a weather monitoring agency of the central government, the AQI is likely to improve towards Monday but may deteriorate on Tuesday.

“The overall air quality is in the “very poor” category. Surface-level winds are moderate and west-north-westerly and moderate winds and better ventilation conditions are forecasted for the next two days... AQI is likely to marginally deteriorate and on the lower end of the “very poor” category on December 15 (Tuesday),” said SAFAR statement on Sunday.

The air quality index of Noida on Sunday, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 322, against 393 on Saturday, and 324 on Friday.

The AQI of Greater Noida was 332 on Sunday, against 404 on Saturday, and 330 on Friday, while the AQI of Ghaziabad was 318 on Sunday, against 415 on Saturday, and 377 a day earlier.

The AQI between 101 and 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 fine particle or pollutant levels improved on Sunday, yet they are still three times the safe limit.

The pollutant PM 2.5, for the past 24 hours in Noida, was recorded at 186.47 microgrammes per cubic metres (µg/m3) against 244.40µg/m3 a day earlier. The PM 2.5 for Greater Noida was 212.41µg/m3 against 261.79µg/m3 a day earlier. The PM 2.5 for Ghaziabad was 216.22µg/m3 against 274.22µg/m3 a day earlier.

The safe limit for PM 2.5 is 60µg/m3.

Experts said they believe that wind speed will be high till Monday, which will lead to better ventilation.

“Wind speeds on Sunday were around 16 to18 kmph towards the afternoon, against less than 10 kmph on Saturday. Also, Sunday saw comparatively clearer skies, and all these factors lead to better ventilation and improvement in air quality. Weather conditions will be similar on Monday, leading to further improvement,” said Mahesh Palawat, head, private weather forecasting agency Skymet.