Air quality in Gurugram at ‘very poor’ level, experts predict a further dip
GURUGRAM: The air quality in Gurugram deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ level on Friday after it remained ‘satisfactory’ for most of the last week of September, due to intermittent rains.
The air quality index (AQI) of Gurugram on Friday was 336, as per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), with a spike in particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) level the main cause of the pollution.
Experts said that the situation will worsen in the coming weeks, as the winds blowing from the neighbouring states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will deteriorate the city’s air quality.
The air quality of Gurugram was in the ‘poor’ category on Thursday with an AQI of 292. On Wednesday, the AQI reading was 181, which falls in the ‘moderate’ category.
On a scale of 0 – 500, an AQI value between 200 and 300 is considered to be ‘poor’, while a value between 300 and 400 is considered to be ‘very poor’. Anything beyond 400 is considered ‘severe’.
According to Sachin Panwar, an independent air quality consultant based in Gurugram, the spike in the PM2.5 level can be attributed to the wind patterns. “Sugarcane crushing for preparing jaggery in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab has started. The winds are blowing in the direction of Delhi-NCR and are increasing the concentration of pollutants in the air ” Panwar said in Gurugram’s neighbouring cities and states is also to blame for the increase in pollutants. “Also, a big cyclonic movement is expected to arrive from the middle-east in the next five days or so, which will further deteriorate the air quality,” Panwar said.
Experts said the air quality index is likely to reach a reading of 600, which falls in the ‘severe’ category, and can lead to respiratory problems.
The pollution level in neighbouring Delhi also increased on Friday as wind speed dropped to almost zero. In Delhi, the air quality had just breached the ‘poor’ level on Thursday. It deteriorated further on Friday. The air quality in some stations of the national Delhi Technological University, Mundka, Dwarka Sector 8 and Anand Vihar recorded ‘very poor’ levels of pollution.
According to data collected from the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality index (AQI) value in Delhi touched 256 on Saturday.
Delhi usually encounters ‘severe’ air quality in November. In the winter of 2017, Delhi encountered a week-long spell of smog following which the AQI hit a high of 486 on November 9.
“Pollution levels are shooting up, primarily because of unfavourable meteorological conditions. First, the wind speed was recorded at zero during most of the time since Thursday Second was coming from the northwest direction, where stubble burning is going on,” a senior official of the CPCB said.
The situation prompted Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain to write a letter to Union environment minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday, wherein Hussain requested Vardhan to direct neighbouring state such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to step up measures to control stubble burning, and in turn, air pollution.
“I have also requested Harsh Vardhan to convene a meeting at his level in this regard,” Hussain said.
According to the data, local pollutants are not getting dispersed and are getting accumulated due to low wind speed. As a result, pollution levels are shooting up.
“The levels of particulate matter – both coarse natural dust and ultrafine particles that are emitted by vehicles, industries and garbage burning – are shooting up. While the level of PM10 (coarse dust particles) shot up 2.7 times above the permissible limits, the level of PM2.5 was at least two times above the safe limits at around 6 pm,” said a senior official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
The air quality level had turned poor on September 29 after a gap of almost two months, soon after the rains stopped. Monsoon withdrew from Delhi on October 1. On October 2, the air quality had turned poor. The air quality turned better for just one day on October 3 after which it