Six of 10 monitoring stations in Noida, Ghaziabad record higher PM2.5 levels than PM10 in November

Ghaziabad: With the air quality index (AQI) already running into ‘severe’ category for the past six days, most of the residents of Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida

Ghaziabad: With the air quality index (AQI) already running into ‘severe’ category for the past six days, most of the residents of Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida are forced to breathe higher levels of much finer PM2.5 pollutants than PM10 this month.

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According to data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), out of 10 monitoring stations in the three cities, six stations have recorded higher average PM2.5 levels than average PM10 levels during November 1 to November 9. The six monitoring stations are Indirapuram, Loni and Vasundhara in Ghaziabad, Sector 125 and Sector 1 in Noida, and Knowledge Park III in Greater Noida.

Officials have attributed the rise in PM2.5 levels primarily to external sources, such as stubble burning and vehicular emission.

“The main factors leading to higher PM2.5 levels is burning of garbage, solid waste and stubble, besides vehicular emission. At present, we do not have favourable meteorological conditions. Hence, dispersal is very less. There are already trapped pollutants in the region and fresh instances of stubble burning are also coming in,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), Ghaziabad.

“Anti-smog guns are also not proving much helpful as they bring down pollutants up to a certain height, but trapped pollution layers come down again. At local level, we are even conducting night checks at industrial units and also scanning farmlands for any fire incidents,” he added.

The CPCB data assessed by HT indicates that all the 10 air quality monitoring stations have also recorded their highest PM2.5 and PM10 levels of this year in November. The data also shows that PM2.5 levels were five to seven times the safe limit. The standard limit for PM2.5 is 60 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3) while that for PM10 is 100 ug/m3.

Doctors said that high levels of PM2.5 pollutants pose severe health risks.

“The very fine, PM2.5, poses a greater risk as they can get deep into lungs and even into the bloodstream, making both lungs and heart susceptible to impaired functioning. Once inhaled, part of the PM2.5 cannot be removed by the lymphatic system and enters the blood circulation through diffusion, making its way to the heart, kidneys, and other organs,” said Dr Vijay Dutta, senior consultant (internal medicine), Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi.

Echoing similar views, Dr Gyan Bharti, pulmonologist, Columbia Asia Hospital at Ghaziabad, said, “Long-term exposure to particulate matter may cause cardiovascular disorders such as cardiac arrhythmias and heart attacks. Short- to medium-term impact of exposure may cause respiratory effects such as asthma and bronchitis.”

As per the CPCB data, Loni and Sanjay Nagar in Ghaziabad recorded all top five most polluted days of the year, in terms of highest PM2.5 and PM10 levels, in the current month during November 1 to 9. Likewise, Indirapuram and Vasundhara stations recorded their highest PM2.5 pollution levels of the year on four and three days, respectively, during the same period in November.

Due to the high levels of PM 2.5, residents, especially senior citizens, are forced to stay indoors and curtail any outdoor activity. “The levels are so high that we have got confined to our house where air purifiers are working round the clock. Still, the breathing is heavy. Morning and evening walks are out of the question even with face masks as they turn black soon due to pollution cover. My husband and I have not moved out for the past one week now,” said Pratibha Mittal, a resident of Kaushambi in Ghaziabad.

In Gautam Budh Nagar district, Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park III station has also fared badly. It has recorded all top five most polluted days of the year, in terms of highest PM2.5 and PM10 levels,in November. The city’s second monitoring station at Knowledge Park V also recorded its top five worst PM2.5 pollution level days of the year in November. The station also recorded worst four days of the year in the same period when PM10 pollution levels were the highest.

All the four monitoring stations in Noida had more or less similar issues. Noida’s Sector 62 monitoring station also recorded four of five most polluted days of the year in November. City’s other three stations at sectors 125, 1 and 116 recorded at least three of top five most polluted days of the year, having highest PM2.5 pollutants, in November.