Chandigarh’s air quality slides to poor
Though it had come close to 200 on multiple days in the past week, AQI shot past the 200 mark for the first time at 1 am on Sunday, entering the poor bracket
AQI breached the 200 mark for the first time this season at 1 am on Sunday, entering the poor bracket
As the national capital braces for “very poor” air quality in the first half of the coming week, Chandigarh’s pollution levels have also begun to decline, dropping to the “poor” category in the early hours of Sunday for the first time this season.
Air Quality Index (AQI) between 201-300 is considered poor, which causes breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure.
Though it had come close to 200 on multiple days in the past week, it shot past the 200 mark for the first time at 1 am on Sunday, entering the poor bracket.
At the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) in Sector 22, at 1 am, AQI went up to 207, while it was 203 at the Sector-53 CAAQMS.
While the air quality improved in Sector 22 within a couple of hours, it remained poor throughout the day in Sector 53, which borders Mohali.
As per Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) officials, the Sector 53 observatory usually has the highest AQI. It has been built opposite the Sector 43 bus stand and has the highest traffic volume as compared to the other two Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) observatories. It is also situated closer to the border with Punjab and is thus affected more by stubble burning.
This year, Punjab has already witnessed 1,445 cases of farm fires (since September 15 when the state’s remote sensing Centre started recording), compared to 1,618 cases as of October 20 last year.
PM 2.5 prominent pollutant
The prominent pollutant throughout Chandigarh is PM 2.5, which is especially dangerous due to its relatively smaller size. It gets directly absorbed in the bloodstream upon breathing and can damage the respiratory system.
CPCC member secretary TC Nautiyal attributed the fall in air quality to stubble burning in adjoining areas of Punjab and Haryana, while adding that traffic in Chandigarh was also a major contributor.
“With Diwali approaching, while the administration has allowed use of green crackers, we are working on an initiative to encourage people not to burst crackers at all to stop the air quality from getting worse,” he said, adding that efforts were on to ensure AQI didn’t cross 400 near Diwali, as seen last year, when it had soared to 453, the highest in over five years of Diwali nights.
Approaching winter may worsen air quality
Meanwhile, with the temperature gradually decreasing as winter approaches, the air quality can become even worse.
Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, “The temperature isn’t low enough for temperature inversion yet that caused AQI to rise. Winds are also blowing in the city. But when the temperature gets lower, pollutants can’t be dispersed and air quality drops significantly.”
Last winter was extra chilly, and due to dense fog and low temperature, AQI had gone up to 371 on January 22, which is considered very poor.
Rain is the most impactful way to get rid of the pollution, but the city is unlikely to see any rain till the end of the month, as per IMD, as seen over the past three weeks.
Amid the sunny skies, the maximum temperature rose slightly from 33.1°C on Saturday to 33.3°C on Sunday, two degrees above normal. But the minimum temperature fell from 19.5°C to 18.4°C, also two degrees above normal. Over the next three days, the day temperature will remain around 33°C and the night temperature around 18°C.
