Gurugram worst in India as air quality drops to 'very poor'
After an 18-day respite, Gurugram’s air quality deteriorated sharply again, making it the most polluted city in India on February 16.
Understanding AQI Levels
0-50: Good
51-100: Satisfactory
101-200: Moderate
201-300: Poor
301-400: Very Poor
401-500: Severe
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Gurugram recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 304, falling into the ‘very poor’ category. Among the four monitoring stations, Teri Gram was the worst hit at 338, followed by Gwalpahari at 293, Sector 51 at 281, while Vikas Sadan failed to record AQI due to insufficient data.
Gurugram was followed by Delhi (294), which saw an increase of 103 points in a day. Hajipur (276), Patna (266) and Bhiwadi (254) completed the top five most-polluted cities. The last time Gurugram experienced ‘very poor’ air quality was on January 29, when the AQI hit 318.
Experts attribute this sudden spike in pollution to a sharp drop in wind speed, which fell from 10 kmph on Saturday to just 3 kmph on Sunday.
The PM2.5 levels were alarmingly high, with Sector 51 recording 334 µg/m³, followed by Gwalpahari (310 µg/m³), Teri Gram (234 µg/m³), and Vikas Sadan (219 µg/m³). Teri Gram also recorded the highest PM10 levels at 349 µg/m³, followed by Sector 51 (318 µg/m³) and Gwalpahari (232 µg/m³).
Environmental activists blamed local authorities for the crisis. “There is rampant waste burning across Gurugram and while the administration is busy with civic elections, nobody is concerned about this crisis. The bad air days are back, and once again, local authorities are unprepared. Road dust and burning garbage are worsening the situation,” said Ruchika Sethi of Citizens for Clean Air Bharat.
Among other cities, Faridabad recorded an AQI of 215, Ghaziabad 207, Noida 229, Greater Noida 198 and Lucknow 198. Meanwhile, Mumbai had moderate air quality at 127, Jaipur at 134, Hyderabad at 89, Chandigarh at 115 and Chennai at a relatively cleaner 68.
