Most polluted NCR cities: Delhi, Greater Noida chart toppers this month
The average AQI for Delhi from November 1-16 was 378, the worst compared to the average for the same period for 17 other towns and cities in the NCR, including Noida, Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Jind and Rohtak.
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Delhi recorded its 8th ‘severe’ air day of the month. Amit Mehra As Delhi recorded its eighth ‘severe’ air day of the month so far, data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) indicates that the national capital remained the most polluted among 18 major NCR towns and cities so far this month.
The average AQI for Delhi from November 1-16 was 378, the worst compared to the average for the same period for 17 other towns and cities in the NCR, including Noida, Gurgaon, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Jind and Rohtak.
AQI averages based on the CPCB’s 4 pm bulletins show that Delhi’s average AQI for November so far was followed by Greater Noida with a figure of 367, Faridabad with an average of 366, Jind 344, Noida 343, Ghaziabad 331, Gurgaon 328, Meerut 325, and Rohtak and Sonipat 323.
Bulandshahr, Ballabgarh, Karnal, Panipat, Baghpat, Hapur, Muzaffarnagar and Charkhi Dadri recorded average AQI between 240 and 300 over this period, with the lowest average in the NCR of 243 being Bulandshahr.
Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “If you consider the landscape of NCR and Delhi, Delhi becomes the epicentre of the problem given the sheer size and demography, and concentration of activity. This is a combination of Delhi’s own very high local pollution and this being aggravated by regional influence. This means Delhi has to do more to be able to control pollution and its own action needs to get deeper, but action will also have to be tightened across NCR.”
At 4 pm on Thursday, the national capital’s 24-hour average AQI was 419, in the ‘severe’ category, and deteriorated further to 438 by 9 pm, going by CPCB data. In the NCR, Rohtak and Faridabad also recorded AQI in the ‘severe’ category.
After rainfall and winds brought by a western disturbance last week, air quality began to deteriorate in Delhi on Diwali night and the day after Diwali, remaining in the ‘very poor’ category for the first half of this week.
Winds over Delhi are expected to remain calm in the morning and evening on Friday, and for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday, going by a forecast issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System on Thursday.
The early warning system, which is a project by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, did not forecast the city’s ‘severe’ AQI on Thursday. In its forecast issued on Thursday, the system said that the air quality would remain ‘very poor’ on Thursday and from November 17 to 19.
Delhi’s average AQI so far this November is also worse than it was over the same period last year. Last November, Delhi saw an average AQI of 339 from November 1 to 16.
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