Smog check: 7 UP cities in severe category
Lucknow likely to witness clear sky in next 48 hours: Met dept
LUCKNOW: Toxic smog hung over UP for the second day with seven major cities falling under the ‘severe category’ for air pollution.
On Thursday, Lucknow (with a PM 2.5 level of 468), Agra (449), Varanasi (358), Noida (487), Moradabad (414), Ghaziabad (499) and Kanpur remained under the ‘severe category’, as per the Central Pollution Control Board report for 4 pm. ‘Severe category’ means that the pollutants in the air will even affect healthy people and seriously impact those with existing respiratory or cardiovascular diseases. During morning hours, the visibility was poor as pollutants hovered at low levels due to moisture in the air.
Doctors said children and especially those having some disease need to remain cautious. “Those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or diseases that affect lung capacity need to be cautious. Family members should monitor their health and make sure they do not go out in a place where air pollution level can be high,” said Prof Vinod Jain, senior faculty KGMU. Prof Surya Kant of the pulmonary medicine department at KGMU said protecting the nose and mouth from pollutants can help. “People often rush for masks, which they reuse. This is wrong. I would rather suggest that people cover their nose and mouth with scarf as they can wash and reuse it without much hassle,” he said. As per the Meteorological department’s forecast, dense to very dense fog is likely at a few places in the morning hours over Punjab and at isolated places Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, UP and Rajasthan. “Metro construction is going on in almost half the city and we also need to ensure pollution does not spread from it,” said PK Srivastava, ex-scientist, CDRI.
BUS SERVICES HIT
About 50 buses that were to start for New Delhi from several cities in the state were suspended. A few buses that run from Lucknow to Anand Vihar in Delhi were also cancelled.
VK Tiwari, ARM Alambagh depot, said that there had been a fall in the number of passengers hence it was decided to cancel some of the buses that run in the night. Many buses that run from Charbagh between 7.15 pm and 11.30 pm were suspended. Their operation will be restored when visibility improves.