Air quality of Faridabad worsens this month

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, November 19

The air quality in this industrial city is on continuous decline. It had not only hit the poorest levels in the past six months, but was also poorer than the corresponding period of the last year. Ineffective monitoring and measures to control the development of dust and smog have reportedly made the air quality turn “very poor” or “hazardous” (severe).

Ineffective monitoring

• Ineffective monitoring and measures to control the development of dust and smog have reportedly made the air quality turn “very poor” or “hazardous” (severe).
• The air quality has been recorded at the levels between “very poor” and “severe” in the past 17 days out of the total 19 days of November

The air quality has been recorded at the levels between “very poor” ( PM- 2.5 of 300 to 400 (particulate matter of 2.5 micrograms hangs in air) and “severe” (above 400) in the past 17 days out of the total 19 days of this month (November), according to details available at the “Sameer”, the official app of the Central Pollution Control Board. The air quality index (AQI), which started deteriorating a week prior to Diwali, hit the worst patch in the first week of this month, as it turned “hazardous” and continued to remain so. While the air quality, which is monitored at five different spots, got recorded at the PM- 2.5 level has remained at an average of 400, it hung between 450 and 480 level for a majority of the days this month. Official sources claim that the air quality has turned worse due to various factors which include impact of the stubble burning, dusty roads, traffic, burning of waste in the open , construction works and manual sweeping.

The air quality last year in this period (November 2020) was slightly better, as only 13 days out of 19 (till November 19), recorded “very poor” or “severe quality” of air. While five days of November last year were “poor” or “moderate” (between 100 and 300), it was none this time. Air quality in Ballabgarh, a subdivisional town here, also has been “very poor” or “severe” for the past three weeks.

Appealing to residents to cooperate and help in the effective implementation of pollution control measures, Yash Pal Yadav, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, said while teams had been made functional in all 40 wards , he said 125 tractor-trailers had been pressed into the job of the removal of garbage. Violations of the graded response action plan (GRAP) were being penalised on a daily basis, he said.