Post Diwali, air quality better than last year

With an average AQI of 250 recorded this morning, the air quality post Diwali night in this industrial hub has been better in comparison to last year, according to the details available on Sameer, the official app of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The overall improvement in the weather and less cracker burning are reported to be among the main reasons behind this change.

Though the average air quality on Friday morning in the city was recorded at 252, it improved further every hour reaching 217 AQI at 3 pm. The AQI, the average of the level recorded at four different spots in the city, calculation included air quality at Sector 16 A, Sector 11, NIT and Sector 30 here. While the poorest AQI 304 was recorded in Sector 11, the best level was found to be 170 in Sector 30 this year.

It has been claimed to be better than the air quality recorded in the city on November 13, 2023, the day after the Diwali festival when this level was found to be around 341, which is categorised as ‘very poor’. Last year the air quality had slipped to ‘very poor’ (300 to 400) and ‘severe’ (above 400) in the city in the week after Diwali.

Bursting of crackers on Diwali is considered one of the major factors behind the worsening of air quality, according to the officials of the Pollution Control Department. “The ban on the sale and burning on normal varieties of crackers and higher prices of green category of crackers (three times than normal) that had been officially allowed perhaps had an impact on over-procurement and bursting by residents,’’ said Narender Sirohi, an activist associated with the anti-pollution drive. He said the normal burning period or duration of the crackers in most parts of the city was three to four hours only against five to six hours in the past few years. However, he said residents did not show much respect to the deadline of bursting crackers as the activity continued almost till midnight, though the intensity of bursting crackers was relatively less in many parts.

Sumer Khatri, a resident of Sector 85, said the rise in overall awareness and the over-priced crackers could be cited among the main factors. He said it was only the children and youth who indulged in bursting crackers in many parts of the city, especially the high-rise residential societies.

Sandeep Singh, Regional Officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board, said favourable prevailing climatic conditions like dry and sunny weather, higher wind current speed, and absence of fog had led to improvement in the air quality this time. As the day and night temperatures had been above normal, it had prevented the AQI from getting poorer, he added.