This story is from April 30, 2021

Pollution adds to woes, city gasps for breath

Even as residents are striving to keep themselves protected with double masks to prevent Covid-19 infection, air pollution levels have spiked in parts of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, adding to breathing problems of many.
Pollution adds to woes, city gasps for breath
NOIDA: Even as residents are striving to keep themselves protected with double masks to prevent Covid-19 infection, air pollution levels have spiked in parts of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad, adding to breathing problems of many.
In Noida Extension, for instance, residents have been waking up to smog every morning for the past two days. A forecast by the weather department has predicted ‘poor’ air quality in NCR in the next couple of days.
“Every morning we wake up and try to go to the balcony to get some fresh air, but the air quality does not permit us.
While we are putting on double masks to prevent Covid-19 infection, such poor air is making it worse for our lungs,” said Manish, a resident of Noida Extension. On Thursday, all three cities — Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad — reported ‘very poor’ air quality levels, which according to the Central Pollution Control Board, can ‘trigger breathing problems on prolonged exposure’.
The AQI of Ghaziabad was recorded at 372, while the Loni AQI station registered 390. Greater Noida’s overall AQI was recorded at 318, with Knowledge Park 5 station registering 356. Similarly, Noida’s overall AQI was recorded at 319, with Sector 116 showing 335.
The Loni air monitoring station in Ghaziabad has reported severe AQI (above 400) both on Wednesday and Tuesday.
A weather forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted ‘poor’ air quality in NCR over the next couple of days, due to inflowing wind from northwest of Delhi loaded with aerosol from crop burning in neighbouring states. The current prevailing wind speed in NCR ranges between 5-15kmph. “We have been informed by IMD that the smoke visible locally is flowing in from outside. It is a mix of the weather condition with a low wind speed combined with crop burning gases. Overall this is leading to a smog situation,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UPPCB, Ghaziabad.
But the Greater Noida UPPCB office says that it is yet to receive a clear explanation for this hyperlocal pollution.
“We will investigate this, though wheat has just been harvested in the fields of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states and there could be crop burning too. We are usually not affected by smog during this time of the year. However, a low wind speed is also a reason for this sudden dip in AQI as it leads to low pollutant dispersion,” Sapna Srivastava, regional officer, UPPCB, Greater Noida, said.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA