Air Quality Index of UP cities turns poor within a fortnight!

LUCKNOW: With smog covering almost all the regions of the national capital and nearby areas, the condition of cities in Uttar Pradesh too has worsened. In fact, turning from ‘good’ to ‘poor’ and in one case ‘very poor’ within a fortnight.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Lucknow, which was recorded as 61 on October 1 jumped to 298 on October 17. Similar change in

AQI was also observed in Varanasi that jumped from 30 on October 1 to 235 on October 17. In Moradabad, it went up from 82 to 289 in the same duration. AQI below 100 is called satisfactory, ‘poor’ when it goes beyond 200 and ‘very poor’ beyond 300. Ghaziabad had the dubious distinction of recording 318 on October 17.

According to experts, the deteriorating air quality is directly linked to drop in average day temperature and weakening of westerly winds. The maximum day temperature has dropped by four degrees this month. “The drop in temperature makes the air dense and weakens the westerly winds that lead to non-dispersal of pollutants. Both these factors disturb the air quality,” said JP

Gupta, director of MET department. In cities, major section of air pollution is caused by dust, vehicular and industrial emissions. Other temporary aspects like burning of garbage, fires and crackers add to pollution. “In winters, additional emissions

caused by temporary aspects like burning of garbage cause more harm due to reduced air flow,” Gupta explained.

The AQI on Dussehra, which was celebrated on October 8, reflects this effect. On October 8, the AQI of Lucknow was 246, Varanasi

214, Moradabad 142 while in Kanpur it was 135.

In coming days, smoke caused by stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and districts of West UP will also affect the air quality adversely. “The smoke caused by stubble burning cover many districts of west and central Uttar Pradesh by mid November,” Gupta explained.

The state government has already issued directions to stop stubble burning. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath at a function on October 14 also appealed to farmers to not do so.

Meanwhile, experts believe that it is almost impossible to prevent stubble burning because farmers cannot afford any alternative technique.