Ahead of Diwali, air quality takes a hit in Chandigarh

Dushyant Singh Pundir

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Chandigarh, October 22

Ahead of Diwali, the air quality of the city has started deteriorating. The Air Quality Index (AQI) slipped to the ‘very poor’ category yesterday.

According to the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee, the AQI shot up to 301 at the Sector 22 Air Quality Monitoring Station on Friday.

An official of the committee said the AQI slipped to the ‘very poor’ category for a brief period only. He said the air quality deteriorated due to a drop in the temperature and human-induced factors such as vehicular pollution and use of ACs by a large number of offices, shops and hotels.

According to the committee, the traffic volume has increased during the festive season and is a reason why the air quality dropped in many areas.

The air quality had started worsening in the city on October 17, when the AQI was 214 and dropped to the ‘poor’ category. The recorded AQI on October 18 was 220 and 292 on October 19. The air quality improved slightly on October 20 and the recorded was 196, taking the city to the ‘satisfactory’ level.

On October 21, the AQI dropped drastically to the ‘very poor’ level (301) for the first time this season, but a slight improvement was witnessed today, the AQI being 238, but the air quality was ‘poor’ in many areas of the city.

Earlier, the AQI in the city remained under the categories of ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’ and ‘moderate’.

The air quality is likely to worsen further in the coming days as the UT administration has announced a two-hour window for bursting green firecrackers across the UT, after a two-year ban on the sale and bursting of firecrackers due to the pandemic.