North India wakes up to ‘severe’ air after Diwali
POLLUTION Bad air to persist for few days; Delhi better than Lucknow, Patna
NEW DELHI: Several cities across north India woke up to “severe” air quality on Thursday after the Diwali night, when revellers burst firecrackers as part of the festivities. Delhi’s average air quality index (AQI), surprisingly, was a notch better than cities in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Bihar, according to data issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
A CPCB bulletin on Thursday showed Lucknow, Patna, Bulandshahr, Noida and Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Patna to be in severe air category — with an AQI above 400. Delhi’s average AQI was 390, marginally better than the rest. On a scale of 0-500, AQI in the range of 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.
Delhi did record extremely high PM2.5 concentrations early on Thursday but that gradually fell by afternoon as the air quality became “very poor” compared to last year’s “severe”. PM 2.5 are particulate matters that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers. They can lodge deep into the lungs and trigger health hazards.
Experts say the pollution situation in Delhi-NCR could be the result of multiple factors — marginally favourable meteorological conditions, and fewer crackbrated ers due to a Supreme Court order last month that restricted the bursting of fireworks between 8pm and 10pm and allowed only “less polluting” firecrackers in the region.
Also, action has been taken in Delhi-NCR on pollution sources under various action plans since October 15.
Interestingly, Lucknow and Kanpur were in “poor category” last year on October 20, the day after Diwali. Thiruvananthapuram recorded “satisfactory” AQI on Thursday; Bengaluru and Chennai were also in “moderate” range. Diwali is usually cele- in the morning down south.
Anumita Roy Chowdhury, head of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE’s) clean air programme, said, “It’s difficult to say how much firecracker influence was there in other northern cities. In Delhi, action was taken during pre-Diwali days on pollution sources. It may have aided in a quick clear out of pollutants from here.”
In fact, the dispersal of pollutants in northern cities may be affected due to adverse meteorological conditions from Friday. Geographical and meteorological factors cause air pollution to remain concentrated over northern states.
BP Yadav, deputy director general of India Meteorological Department, said, “The conditions are not favourable for the dispersal of pollutants in north India now. It’s getting colder, wind speed is less than 5 kmph, cold from the mountains will affect the region.”
This would mean northern states may see prolonged poor air quality period for the next few days.
A district-wise forecast map put out by urban emissions. info based on satellite measurements also shows how the entire Indo-Gangetic plains area is in severe or very poor air pollution category while the rest of the country seems to have moderate or acceptable levels.
RANCHI: Capital Ranchi registered 8.80% rise in sound pollution on Diwali night compared to pre-Diwali measurement, recorded on November 1 and 19.27% above the permissible limit, pollution board officials said on Thursday.
In the given two-hour window between 8pm and 10pm by the Supreme Court for bursting crackers, Ranchi recorded 9.72% increase in the noise pollution level than the pre-Diwali mapping.
Jharkhand state pollution control board (JSPCB) measured the status of sound pollution in four locations-Tupudana Industrial Area, Albert Ekka Chowk, Jharkhand High Court and Ashok Nagar. The four locations were divided into industrial, commercial, silence and residential zones on Wednesday.
The pollution level was negligibly lower in silence, commercial and residential zones this year than the 2017 Diwali. Average decibel in three zones recorded at 73.01 dB, which was 73.43 dB in 2017. The same in 2016 was at 69.53dB.
A JSPCB official said that Ashok Nagar, a residential zone, recorded sound pollution at 71.83 decibel (dB) between 6pm and 12 midnight against the limit of 55dB in day (6am to 10pm) and 50dB at night (10pm to 6am). The area had recorded 57.5 dB on November 1.
Similarly, the commercial zone Albert Ekka Chowk recorded an average sound pollution of 76.63 dB during the period against the permissible limits of 65dB in day and 60dB at night.
Jharkhand High Court, a silence zone, registered an average sound pollution at 70.58 dB against the permissible limits for silence zone 50 dB during day and 45 dB at night.
The level was found to be permissible at 61.25dB in Tupudana Industrial Area, which was much below the permissible limit.
Commercial zone Albert Ekka and residential area Ashok Nagar recorded the maximum sound pollution in
the given two-hour window from 8pm to 10 pm at 77.35dB and 73.9dB respectively, much above the permissible limits.
JSPCB member secretary Rajiv Lochan Bakshi said Supreme Court order was effectively implemented in Ranchi. “The maximum rise in decibel was recorded between 8pm and 10 pm. It means, people have
understood the bad impact of firecrackers,” Bakshi said.
He said the average sound pollution also declined compared to last Diwali, which will have good impact on environment.