As Diwali approaches, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad surged to 304 on Sunday, up from 169 just a day prior, placing it in the ‘very poor’ category, which poses health risks.
An AQI rating between zero and 50 is deemed ‘good,’ 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 ‘very poor,’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe.’
Officials Blame Pakistan for Pollution
DK Gupta, a senior official from the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board in Greater Noida, attributed the increasing air pollution levels to Pakistan. He stated, “This is the first time this year that all three cities of Noida, Greater Noida, and Ghaziabad saw ‘very poor’ air quality on the same day. And our neighbouring country – Pakistan – needs to be blamed for this. Increasing instances of stubble burning have been sending toxic smoke across the border,” as reported by TOI.
Gupta emphasized that the rising stubble burning incidents in nearby regions, combined with unfavorable wind conditions, have worsened the situation. He noted that local wind speeds had fallen to zero, resulting in a hazy atmosphere and reducing visibility to 1,000 meters at Palam and 1,500 meters at Safdarjung. Some air quality monitoring stations even reported AQI levels dipping into the severe category.
Delhi’s AQI Remains Poor
On Monday morning, Delhi’s overall air quality showed improvement from the previous day, yet it remained in the ‘very poor’ category, which is hazardous to health. The national capital recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 264 at 6 a.m., nearly 90 points lower than the day before. Despite this improvement, the AQI still fell within the “very poor” classification, according to the IQair website. In Pitampura, the AQI was recorded at 167 at the same time.
Political Blame Game
The deteriorating AQI in Delhi-NCR led to a war of words between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta criticized the AAP government for its failure to manage the city’s escalating pollution levels. He asserted that the residents of Delhi are forced to breathe in suffocating air while AAP is preoccupied with “hollow promises and low-level politics.”
