AQI in 8 Haryana cities turn ‘severe’, ‘very poor’ in 7 others
As per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), those in the ‘severe’ category include Fatehabad (466), Faridabad (438), Jind (432), Hisar (425), Sonepat (416), Kaithal (415), Sirsa (414) and Gurugram (404).
The Air Quality Index (AQI) in as many as eight districts in Haryana remained in the ‘severe’ category on Saturday, while it was ‘very poor’ in seven others.
As per the data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), those in the ‘severe’ category include Fatehabad (466), Faridabad (438), Jind (432), Hisar (425), Sonepat (416), Kaithal (415), Sirsa (414) and Gurugram (404).
Further, air in places like Bahadurgarh (364), Narnaul (329), Rohtak (320), Kurukshetra (319), Karnal (305), Panipat (303) and Bhiwani (300) was in the ‘very poor’ category.
However, there was some respite in the northern districts as AQI in Ambala, Yamuna Nagar and Panchkula districts as well as the joint capital Chandigarh, was ‘moderate’.
The figures were average for the past 24 hours, according to the CPCB’s bulletin at 4 pm.
In almost all places, the prominent pollutant remains ultrafine particulate matter (PM 2.5) that is said to be the most harmful to human beings due to its far-reaching health risks.
The board said that air in ‘severe’ category affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases, while there could be respiratory illness on prolonged exposure in air of ‘Very Poor’ bracket and most people could have breathing discomfort in ‘poor’ quality air.
Environmental experts in the region are of the opinion that besides farm fires, vehicular pollution, construction activities and road dust are major contributors to air pollution.
Present climatic conditions and cold weather play a role as it tends to trap pollutants close to the ground, leading to a build-up of pollutants and a decrease in air quality, a Karnal-based expert said.
However, despite a considerable drop in cases of stubble burning this year, the air quality remains extremely hazardous, even for healthy people.
Anubhav Aggarwal, a resident of Ambala City, said, “My friends and I go for a walk every morning. But for the last week or so, we observed it was getting difficult to breathe after long walks and most of us have developed a sore throat.”
33 farm fire cases recorded in state
On Saturday, the state witnessed a marginal rise in farm fires with 33 cases recorded for the day with Fatehabad contributing 14 of them, followed by eight in Jind and six in Ambala. A total of 1,405 cases have been recorded so far in the state this season.
Jaswinder Saini, deputy director of agriculture (DDA), Ambala, said, “95% of the area under paddy has been cultivated and the fire incidents are on a downward trend.”