Wind lowers AQI to 339 in Lucknow, air still ‘very poor’

LUCKNOW: Improved wind velocity — from 0.5 metre per second to 3 metre per second — helped the city somewhat buffer on Wednesday the ‘severe’ air pollution it had been grappling with for the past four days.
According to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) of Lucknow plummeted 77 units since Tuesday to halt at a ‘very poor’ 339, but the city continued to figure on the top 10 list of most polluted cities in the country.
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The last time the city had recorded an AQI below 350 was on October 30, when CPCB had read 326. Thereafter, the level of superfine particulate matter in air kept increasing and the AQI touched a high of 435 on November 4. Pollution index stayed above the alarming 400 mark for four consecutive days since November 2.

“Over the past week, the wind speed has been as low as 0.2-0.5 metre per second. A moderate increase in wind velocity dispersed pollutants to some extent, bringing down the AQI,” said professor Dhruvsen Singh, director of Lucknow University’s weather and pollution monitoring cell.
According to CPCB’s real-time monitor, Talkatora was the most polluted with a PM 2.5 concentration of 229.5 microgram per cubic metre of air (µg/m3) around Tuesday midnight. The pollution level dropped thereafter and remained in the range of 150-250µg/m3 till Wednesday noon. By evening, PM 2.5 concentration plunged to 64.72µg/m3.
In Lalbagh, PM 2.5 was again highest (200.18µg/m3) around Tuesday midnight. On Wednesday morning, it came down to 194µg/m3 and declined to 167.9µg/m3 by evening. Gomtinagar was on a roller-coaster ride with 160µg/m3 around Tuesday midnight; 148.2µg/m3 on Wednesday morning; 218µg/ m3 in the afternoon; and 177.25µg/m3 in the evening.