Within 10 hours, pollution level spikes five times in Gurgaon

“During the day time on Friday, it had come down to 207 at 1 pm and it further decreased to 182.72 at 6:30 pm,” he added. “In Panchkula town, the PM 2.5 level was just 65.14 at 6 pm on Thursday but after seven hours it had shot up to 214.31. However, at 9 am Friday, it had come down to 30.33. Similarly, it had gone up to 417.36 in Rohtak town on Thursday-Friday night from just 77.94 at 6 pm on Thursday,” he added.

Comparing with the previous year figures, Narayanan said, “On the day of Diwali this year, the PM2.5 level was 240.02 in Gurgaon in comparison to 270.89 of 2016’s Diwali. In Faridabad, it was 306 this year against 270 plus on the day Diwali in 2016. The Faridabad officials have reported that it may be because of burning of crackers at few places where these were stored in the town.”

Narayanan said that the level of pollution has come down in Gurgaon, Panchkula and Rohtak because of strict vigilance to implement the orders of the apex court. “We are satisfied with the efforts made in the circumstances,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) maintained that “awareness levels”, and the active contribution of “higher authorities”, was key in reducing pollution levels in the capital. CPCB member secretary A Sudhakar said, “Awareness was higher and local authorities also contributed to this. The CPCB had 42 teams on the field since September 1.”

Stating that while east Delhi saw pollution due to fire crackers, he expressed surprise at the “silence” in other areas: “People who had stock left over from last year burst crackers. But the Delhi Police closely monitored the situation, especially in south Delhi and Dwarka.”