Quality of air in Pali, Jodhpur turn worst in country

JAIPUR: Along with claiming many lives, Tuesday's thunderstorm has also affected air quality in Pali and Jodhpur. According to the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB), the two cities of the state had the worst air quality in the entire country on Tuesday.
The PM10 (particulate matter) level was recorded at 453 micrograms per cubic metre in Pali (average of past 24 hours), which was highest among the cities monitored by CPCB in the country on Tuesday. The CPCB report shows that the air quality was severely polluted with high levels of PM10. However, on Wednesday, the situation has improved in Pali a lot. As the CPCB report shows that the PM10 level has come down to 158 micrograms per cubic metre, which is moderate.

Jodhpur was at the second spot in the list of cities having highest PM10 level, followed by Vatva, Ahmedabad and Varanasi.

On Tuesday, the PM2.5 level (which was prominant pollutant) in Jodhpur was 392 micrograms per cubic metre, which is categorised as 'very poor'. But, on Wednesday, Jodhpur recorded PM10 level at 119, which comes under the category of moderate air quality. The air quality has improved in the entire state in comparison to the air quality recorded on Tuesday when the most of the parts of the state had witnessed thunderstorm along with rains.

A day before thunderstorm hit the state, the air quality in Pali and Jodhpur was 'poor'.

Doctors say that if the air quality is severe, it affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. They pointed out that if a person is already suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, interstitial lung disease and other such respiratory ailments, they need to take special precautions when the air quality is bad. The higher levels of PM10 and PM2.5 might cause aggravate their health problems.