Out of 22 cities with ‘Severe’ AQI, 10 are in HaryanaNoida, Gurugram are the most polluted in the country

Bhartesh Singh Thakur
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 5

Out of 22 cities recording ‘Severe’ Air Quality Index (AQI) in the country post-Diwali, 10 were located in Haryana.

“Severe” AQI implies that air quality affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.

Out of the eight most polluted cities in the country, four were from the state. This has happened despite a cracker ban in 14 NCR districts, as per the NGT order, and in the remaining districts also except in Panchkula, the ban was imposed based on the last year’s November air quality data.

As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), from 4 pm of November 4 to 4 pm of November 5 (24-hour average) which included the period of bursting crackers, Noida recorded the worst AQI at 475, followed by Gurugram (472), Ghaziabad (470), Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Jind (462), Ballabgarh (462) and Delhi (462).    

 The AQI in 0-50 falls in 'Good', 51-100 in 'Satisfactory', 101-200 in 'Moderate' and 201-300 in 'Poor' categories. If the AQI is between 301-400, it is ‘Very Poor’ and causes respiratory illness. If it is above 401, it falls in the “Severe” category and has respiratory effects even on healthy people.

 Other Haryana cities which included ‘Severe’ AQI included Manesar (458), Bhiwani (437), Rohtak (437), Charkhi Dadri (424), Panipat (413), and Hisar (405).  

Besides this, 10 places in the state recorded ‘Very Poor’ AQI, which included Sonipat (400), Dharuhera (383), Narnaul (377), Kaithal (377), Kurukshetra (354), Mandikhera (336), Fatehabad (330), Karnal (329), Palwal (314) and Ambala (301).  

 “It has largely happened due to the flouting of the ban on bursting of firecrackers. The local administration must have taken action over the flouting of the ban. The winter season is also contributing to the rise in the level of pollution,” S.Narayanan, Member Secretary, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), said.

 There were 228 and 331 stubble burning events in the state on November 4 and November 5 respectively, according to HSPCB. Till today, there were 3,997 events since September 15 as compared to 6,815 last year. There is a fall of 41.3 per cent.  

 But Haryana has been witnessing continued ‘Severe’ and ‘Very Poor’ AQI for some days.  

 “Stubble burning is not the sole reason for continued ‘Severe’ and ‘Very Poor’ AQI in Haryana. The bursting of firecrackers will give you a peak for a day or two. Actually, during the winter season, the atmospheric boundary comes down significantly. So, even with the same emissions, the level of pollution increases. The air becomes stagnant. The cloudy weather also contributes to the formation of secondary particles,” said Additional Professor Ravindra Khaiwal, from the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, PGIMER, Chandigarh.

He added, “In Haryana, rise in vehicular density and burning of municipal solid waste has also contributed to pollution in small cities”.