NOIDA: The city woke up to yet another morning of dense smog blanket on Wednesday, but the air quality improved as the day progressed as winds helped dissipate dense fog across the region.
The CPCB data showed that Noida's AQI had improved to the lower levels of ‘very poor' and settled at 304 at 4pm. This was significantly better than Monday's 423, when it was recorded in ‘severe' category, and Tuesday's 370 in the ‘very poor'.

In Nov, the city has seen nine ‘very poor' AQI days. Air quality started plunging right after Diwali. Though it remained in the higher levels of the ‘poor' category on Oct 31 (257), Nov 1 (274) and 2 (269) due to good wind speed, it was a sharp slide from 230 recorded a day before Diwali (Oct 30).
On Nov 3 and 4, it nosedived to ‘very poor' — the first time in the season after Oct 27 — and since then it has been oscillating between upper levels of ‘poor' and ‘very poor'. Between Nov 13 and 20, the city recorded six ‘very poor' AQI days and one ‘severe' (Nov 18).
For the second consecutive, the city's Sector 62 air quality monitoring station, which covers industrial and commercial areas of the DME, recorded the worst average AQI at 368 (very poor). On Tuesday, it was recorded at 448 (severe). PM 2.5 and 10 concentrations at the station peaked at 500 µg/m³ between 1-3pm.
Sector 125 station, which covers commercial and institutional areas near the Yamuna across Faridabad, saw an average AQI of 307 compared to Tuesday's 332. The average AQI at Sector 116 station, which covers 7x, was 278. This was better than 366 recorded a day ago. Sector 1 station, covering several industrial sectors, was 265 compared to Tuesday's 335.
"Dry westerly and north-westerly winds are blowing in the region. These winds have thinned the layer of fog in north-west India, causing a rise in maximum temperature. The sun's rays were able to break through the sky, which reduced the smog conditions and hence, there was a slight improvement in the air quality," Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet Meteorology, said.
According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), air quality is likely to slip back to the ‘severe' category on Thursday as wind speed may drop below 10kmph, considered unfavourable for dispersion of pollutants. It may improve over the weekend.
In Ghaziabad, where AQI was recorded in the ‘severe' levels for two days on the trot, air quality improved to 328 (very poor). Loni, located right across the Delhi border, breathed the worst air in the city and recorded an AQI of 429. It was followed by Vasundhara (328), Sanjay Nagar (305) and Indirapuram (251).
In Greater Noida, which recorded an average AQI of 304 on the day, Knowledge Park 5 was the most polluted at 350. Knowledge Park 3 station recorded an AQI of 258.
To combat increasing pollution, Noida Authority has set up teams to inspect all residential sectors and villages to ensure restrictions under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Stage 4 — enforced since Monday — are adhered to. The Authority also sprinkled water on dusty and congested patches. Anti-smog guns were also used in several areas.
The health department, meanwhile, issued a helpline number — 9717080605 — where residents can flag violations of GRAP norms.
Some NGOs have also pitched in to fight the toxic air. Challengers group, a social workers group launched an awareness campaign to educate women and kids about the effects of breathing hazardous air. They also distributed masks among many people.
In Delhi, with fog finally dissipating across the region, there's hope the air quality may improve sooner. Signs of improvement were seen on Wednesday night as average AQI fell to 400 (very poor' by 10pm. In Nov so far, Delhi has witnessed seven severe days. Of these, the capital reported two ‘severe plus' days on Nov 18 and 19. With an AQI of 494, Nov 18 was the second most polluted day on record.