New Delhi: Particulate air pollution levels in several Indian cities such as Patna, Chennai, Lucknow and Hyderabad spiked on Sunday night due to heavy bursting of firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali, local environment officials said on Monday.
The overall air quality of index (AQI) in cities in Bihar including Patna, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Bhagalpur and even small towns like Rajgir and Purnia almost doubled in the past 24 hours with pollution levels in Patna and Purnia touching 500 on AQI on Monday morning.
AQI in cities like Rajgir, Muzaffarpur, Gaya and Bhagalpur was found to be 429, 449, 496 and 490 on Monday morning, owing to heavy concentration of PM2.5 in the ambient air, Bihar pollution control board officials said.
Lucknow’s AQI jumped from 126 on Sunday evening to 213 on Monday morning and that of the industrial town of Kanpur from 123 to 228 in the same time period. In most of the stations, PM2.5 and PM10 values reached a maximum of 500 limits or very close to it under ‘severe’ category between Sunday evening and Monday morning before winds cleared the air, and pollution levels started to fall, officials said.
In relatively cleaner Chennai, the AQI increased from 207 on Sunday morning to 365 on Monday 10 p.m. By 4.30 p.m., the AQI level fell to 245. The lowest value of AQI of 207 was observed in Besant Nagar and the highest value of 365 AQI was observed in Valasaravakkam. “This year 2023 during Deepavali a reduction of 40% of AQI was observed when compared to the previous year of Deepavali 2022,” the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board said on Monday.
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In Goa’s Panaji, there was a slight increase in pollution levels from 59 on Sunday afternoon to 71 later after effigies and fire crackers were burnt on Sunday night.
There was no increase in pollution levels in Kolkata. The 24-hour average AQI in Kolkata at 6 am on Monday was 268, which fell to 214 by Monday afternoon. On Sunday it was 248 and 269 on Saturday. The AQI count is based on readings from seven stations in the city.
In Hyderabad,the 24 hours average AQI on Monday was 165 due to pollution resulting from firecrackers on Sunday night. On Sunday, the AQI in Hyderabad was 159. At around 3 pm on Monday, areas like Gowlidoddi where the US Consulate is located, the AQI continued to be 160 (unhealthy), followed by Kukatpalli Housing Board Colony, where it was 147. In many other areas of Hyderabad, the AQI remained around100, which is considered poor.
(With inputs from state bureaus)
