10 UP cities among India's most polluted

LUCKNOW: In an alarming reflection of poor air quality in the state, 10 out of 12 most polluted cities of the country on Monday were from UP. In all these cities, the air quality was monitored to be 'severe' or 'very poor'.


According to the air quality monitoring data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday, the pollution levels in nine UP cities of the state had crossed 350 and were recorded as high as 430. The two cities from the state had crossed an alarming level of 400, making the air quality fall in 'severe ' category of the CPCB, which means exposure to such air severely affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. At 430, Ghaziabad had the poorest Air Quality Index (AQI), followed by Kanpur with an AQI of 422. The two cities figured in the 'severe' air quality which leads to an emergency health situation.

On the other hand, 10 cities of the state figured in 'very poor' air quality category which means prolonged exposure to such air can lead to respiratory illness. “UP has the most polluted cities in the country due to heavy construction activities following major project works being carried out in most of the cities. The absence of green belt and addition of around lakhs of vehicle on the roads every year in the main cities of the state is responsible for the poor air,” said Alok Dhawan, the director of Indian Institute of Toxicology and Research (IITR).

Delhi has been struggling with toxic air

He said the situation of the state capital where the AQI levels had been above 300 for six consecutive days and cities like Kanpur where it was above 400 thrice in the previous week, presents a sorry state of the air quality in UP cities. The national capital has been struggling with toxic air for the past two weeks but it was left behind by six other cities from UP in terms of worse air quality. The pollution levels recorded at Ghaziabad, Kanpur, GB Nagar, Baghpat and Noida was even worse than New Delhi’s.

Prof Dhruv Sen Singh, the director of Lucknow University’s air quality monitoring station said: "There is an urgent need for policy-making at the government's end to keep a tab on the high pollution levels in the state. There is not one but multiple factors behind the bad air, but the need of the hour is to control major factors like dust due to bad roads, traffic connections and vehicular pollution."