Pollution levels soar to ‘severe’ in Noida and Ghaziabad

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The air quality in Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad consistently dropped in the past three days and is likely to get worse if the wind direction remains the same, the UP pollution control department has said. Thanks to a cracker-bursting spree on Diwali night, the three cities displayed a sharp spike in pollution levels the day after, though reasons like rapidly changing wind directions, stubble burning in Haryana & Punjab and emissions from local factories kept the pollution levels high in NCR cities.

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According to sources, the air quality in Greater Noida and Ghaziabad had progressively turned from bad to worse from Wednesday evening 8pm when most people started bursting crackers.

On Wednesday morning, the AQI was recorded at 288 in Noida, 266 in Greater Noida and 275. However by 10pm, the AQI shot up to 315 in Noida, 300 in Greater Noida and 320 in Ghaziabad as Diwali fireworks went up the air. On Thursday morning, the day after Diwali, the AQI was 377 in Noida, 347 in Greater Noida and 366 in Ghaziabad. By evening, the AQI in Noida reached 432, 410 in Greater Noida and 422 in Ghaziabad.

According to sources, the post-Diwali figures of the three cities were several notches higher than the figures of post-Diwali day last year. On October 20, 2017, the post-Diwali day, the CPCB data shows Noida AQI at 402 and Ghaziabad at 412. There was no separate CPCB monitoring for Greater Noida last year.

On Thursday, though the wind speed was very low, it is expected to increase slightly on Friday, and the temperature is also expected to rise by one degree. “If the weather condition remains the same, the air quality could get worse on Friday. However, if we get significant wind movement overnight, people would get to breathe easy on Friday as concentration of air pollutants would become less dense,” an officer at Uttar Pradesh pollution control department said.

CPCB sources said early morning air quality remains low in pollutants because of multiple factors like wind movement and low vehicular congestion during night. Pollutants in the air peak during afternoon at about 2pm and ambient air recorded from 2pm to 4pm reflects the maximum pollutants contained in a city’s air sample. The pollution control department considers this period as the most polluted part of a day when all gases become more prominent in air samples. During the Diwali period, the prominent pollutant in the air is PM2.5 or fine particulate matter.