As GRAP kicks in, Noida records ‘poor’ air quality

NOIDA: Air quality in Noida and its surrounding areas continued to be poor on Monday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) being recorded at 235 in the morning, as per data released by the national air quality monitoring station at Sector-125.

An AQI between 51 and 100 is considered ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.

Officials of the Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration attributed the rise in air pollution levels to stubble burning in neighbouring states Punjab and Haryana.

Amid the deteriorating air quality, the administration has alerted major construction firms, authorities and the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) to ensure water sprinkling and adoption of all necessary measures to check pollution in the upcoming days.

“Observing the changes in air quality in past few days, all departments having with different roles to curb air pollution have been alerted. Some neccesary measures like sprinkling of water on road to control dust and mechanical sweeping have already started,” said Anil Singh, regional officer, UPPCB

“We will move according to the EPCA’S Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and initiative would be taken strictly as per requirement of the situation. Moreover, if the air quality goes beyond severe category then all construction works would be stopped,” he added.

Environmentalist activists believe that the poor conditions can be avoided if precautionary measures to control pollution are inspected throughout the year, instead of being executed only when the conditions worsen.

“Dust coming out of construction sites and brick kilns are two major sources of air pollution in the district. There remains no check on pollution causing practices in the district throughout the year. The administration only comes into action when pollution levels rises to alarming levels. Moreover, the techniques used to control air pollution are outdated. Latest techniques such as vacuum cleaners to clean roads and others are nowhere seems to be in their list,” said Vikrant Tongad, an environmental activist.

Tongad further said that the poor environmental conditions have just started, and are expected to worsen in the upcoming days.

“The air quality will further deteriorate in upcoming days. We are hopeful with the implementation of new GRAP, which is focused to curb air pollution. However, there is a need to make certain amendments in the measures mentioned in the GRAP to make it more feasible for Gautam Buddh Nagar,” added Tongad.