Pollution woes rise: Jind, Karnal record 'very poor' AQI amid 19 new farm fires

The air quality in Haryana worsened on Saturday, with Jind and Karnal recording ‘very poor’ levels, while 12 other cities fell into the ‘poor’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's Air Quality Index (AQI) for PM 2.5 levels. Jind recorded an AQI of 337 and Karnal 303.

Cities with ‘poor’ air quality included Sonepat (298), Sirsa (278), Charkhi Dadri (255), Bhiwani (254), Kurukshetra (252), Fatehabad (250), Manesar (238), Bahadurgarh (232), Hisar (222), Yamunanagar (221), Kaithal (215), and Gurugram (209). The AQI categorises 0-50 as good, 51-100 as satisfactory, 101-200 as moderate, 201-300 as poor, 301-400 as very poor, and 401-500 as severe.

In Ambala, AQI levels improved from a very poor 367 on Friday to a moderate 168 on Saturday. Haryana State Pollution Control Board Regional Officer in Ambala, Ajay Singh, attributed Friday’s spike to a garbage burning incident within the Government Polytechnic campus, where a monitoring station is installed. “The fire was extinguished, and strict directions were issued to prevent future incidents,” he said, adding, “The improvement was also aided by better wind conditions.”

Meanwhile, 19 new cases of farm fires were reported across the state on Saturday, bringing the season's total to 838 cases, down from 1,344 cases during the same period last year. Of the recent fires, Sirsa reported four cases, Yamunanagar and Kaithal three each, Karnal, Panchkula, and Jind two each, and Sonepat, Jhajjar, and Kurukshetra one each.

Kaithal has recorded the highest number of fires so far (158), followed by Kurukshetra (129) and Karnal (81).