AQI ‘severe’ in NCR, Haryana

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, November 4

Faridabad continues to be among top 10 most polluted cities in the country. It was placed at the fifth position in the country with the overall air quality index (AQI) hitting 425 today evening.

As many as 13 other cities across the nation, including five main cities of NCR, have recorded hazardous level of air pollution in the past 24 hours.

With hardly any impact of the graded response action plan (GRAP) measures, the air quality turned severe in the city with the PM – 2.5 level (particulate matter of 2.5 micrograms hanging in a cubic sq. metre of area) registering 410 and 425 points, this morning and evening, respectively. The thickness of the smog layer has been responsible for the deterioration in the air quality, according to officials of the Pollution Control department. This has also led to reduction in visibility by up to 40 per cent. Besides Faridabad, Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida, and Greater Noida also registered AQI between 404 and 450 at 8.10 am, according to ‘Sameer’, the official App of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

As many as eight of the total 13 cities registering AQI of above 400 are from Haryana, as per the details. Bahadurgarh, Jind, Charkhi Dadri, Manesar, Bhiwani, and Rohtak recorded AQI above 400 at 8.10 am. In the evening, Hisar got added to the list with an AQI of 436. Eight Haryana cities, including Narnaul, Ballabgarh, Dharuhera, Fatehabad, Sirsa, Kaithal, Panipat, Manesar and Sonepat, registered very poor AQI (300 to 399) on Friday. Bhiwadi in Rajasthan recorded 436 this evening.

Farm fires in the region, burning of waste, dust on roads, unsafe removal and transportation of garbage, ash and earth material, traffic movement, smoke from chimneys of some of industrial units and poor supervision by the authorities concerned are reported to be main contributors to the bad air, according to sources. Meanwhile, some of the Industrialists associations have claimed that implementation of the stage- 4 measures of GRAP could have an adverse impact on industrial and commercial production due to the ban on the movement of trucks.

“Any violation of the GRAP will be dealt with stern action,’’ said a senior district official.