Lucknow breathed ‘good’ air for just 2 days in ’2018

LUCKNOW: 2018 was not easy for the lungs of Lucknowites who got to breathe ‘good’ air for only two days in the entire year. The air pollution levels showed an increasing trend as compared to 2017 which had 17 good air quality days.

In all, for more than 85% of days in 2018, air pollution levels were beyond the safe limit of AQI 60 set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, reveals the analysis of the year-long Air Quality Index (AQI) data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).


January, November and December were the worst months in 2018 with more than 95% of days recording high pollution levels. The ‘severe’ air quality was witnessed on January 12, 19 and 23 when the pollution levels were 421, 419 and 411, respectively. It was around seven times higher than the permissible limits. Further, high pollution levels were recorded for 77 consecutive days from October 15 till December 31 when the air quality figured in ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ or ‘severe’ categories. In comparison, 2017 witnessed 61 consecutive days in which air was between poor and severe categories in November and December.

The number of days when the air quality was ‘satisfactory’ went down in 2018 in comparison to 2017. It was only for 48 days in 2018 that the city witnessed low particulate matter concentration, while in 2017 it was for 69 days. August in 2018 was the best month with 27 days of ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory’ air quality. The quality was ‘good’ on August 1 and 16 when the AQI was 35 and 36, respectively. Besides, there were 25 days in which air quality was ‘satisfactory’ .

“Increase in the construction activities, felling of trees, vehicular load and other anthropogenic factors have taken a toll on the city’s air quality. August and September were best months in the terms of air as heavy rains and strong monsoon winds had swept away the suspended particulate matter from the air,” said Lucknow University air quality monitoring director Prof Dhruv Sen Singh.

He said the low temperatures and wind velocity are responsible high concentration of pollutants in winter months.