Farm fires, Diwali crackers choke Punjab, air quality dips from 'moderate' to 'poor'

Aman Sood

Patiala, October 25

Punjab cities inhaled poor quality air in the past few days as the average Air Quality Index (AQI) had moved to the ‘poor’ category from the ‘moderate’ category last week. Meanwhile, cracker smoke coupled with over 1,100 farm fires in the past two days added to the already polluted air.

Editorial: Poor air quality

The average AQI of Punjab on Diwali this year was 224 (poor) as compared to 268 (poor) in 2021 and 328 (very poor) in 2020, claimed the government.

On Monday, the two-hour rule (from 8 pm to 10 pm) for bursting crackers went for a toss as people got into action around 6 pm and continued well past midnight.

As many as 924 farm fires on Monday and 181 on Tuesday made matters worse. Punjab has witnessed over 5,798 farm fires till date.

On Diwali night, the maximum AQI was recorded in Amritsar this year at 262 (poor). Last year, the maximum value of AQI 327 (very poor) was observed in Jalandhar and in 2020, the maximum AQI 386 (very poor) was observed in Amritsar.

On Diwali night, the minimum AQI 188 (moderate) for this year was recorded in Mandi Gobindgarh against last year’s value of 220 (poor) and 262 (poor) in 2020.

Last year on Diwali night, the AQI of two cities (Amritsar and Jalandhar) remained in ‘very poor’ category. In 2020, four cities Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala remained in ‘very poor’ category. “The maximum AQI reduction this year was observed in Jalandhar (31.2 per cent) and minimum was observed in Patiala (7 per cent),” claimed Environment Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer. “This year’s air quality showed an improvement as compared to last year on Diwali. While no city remained in the moderate category of AQI last year, two cities (Khanna and Mandi Gobindgarh) this year were in the moderate category,” he said.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.

Six cities (Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Mandi Gobindgarh and Khanna) of Punjab observed a reduction in AQI during this year’s Diwali as compared to 2020 and 2021’s Diwali days, said the minister, adding the average AQI of Punjab this Diwali was 224 (poor) as compared to 268 (poor) in 2021 and 328 (very poor) in 2020.

PPCB Member Secretary Karunesh Garg said “reduction in crackers and less area being burnt in the fields has helped air quality. Further, the wind speed today helped disperse the pollutants.”

However, experts pointed out that the data released by the PPCB does not show the particulate matter (PM) recorded in various cities. “Usually, the data is released along with the AQI every year after Diwali, but this year, that data is missing,” they said.

Officials said that they would release the PM-related data on Wednesday as “it was being prepared”.