Air quality slips as wind speed drops in Noida, Ghaziabad
Noida: Pollution levels spiked in Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Thursday as wind speed dropped, slowing ventilation of pollutants, air quality monitoring agencies said
Noida: Pollution levels spiked in Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida on Thursday as wind speed dropped, slowing ventilation of pollutants, air quality monitoring agencies said.
The air quality of Noida and Ghaziabad dropped to the ‘very poor’ category while Greater Noida fell to the ‘poor’ category on Thursday. The air quality of Noida had been oscillating between ‘poor’ and ‘severe’ category since February 07 and had improved to the “moderate” category on March 1.
“Wind speed dropped in the region from over 15 kmph on Wednesday to eight-10 kmph on Thursday. The reason for the fall in wind speed is that the effect of the previous western disturbance is over now. A fresh western disturbance is expected over the weekend, which will likely lead to a rise in wind speed and light rains over the national Capital region,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the System of air quality and weather forecasting and research (SAFAR), the air quality index (AQI) is likely to improve by Friday afternoon.
“Surface winds are low and forecasted to stay low for Thursday, and likely to pick up by Friday noon. The AQI is forecasted to marginally deteriorate; it may touch the ‘very poor’ category for the shorter period till Friday afternoon and sharply improve thereafter. ‘Poor’ to ‘moderate’ category AQI is forecasted for March 6 and 7,” said the SAFAR statement on Thursday.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI of Noida on Thursday, on a scale of 0 to 500, was 302 against 168 a day earlier.
The AQI of Greater Noida was 298 against 189 a day earlier. The air quality index of Ghaziabad was 332 against 198 a day earlier.
An AQI level up to 100 is considered ‘good’, between 101 and 200 is considered ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is considered ‘very poor’ and above 400 is considered ‘severe’.
Meanwhile, the maximum temperature soared by two degrees in Noida while the minimum dropped. The higher maximum temperature resulted in a warm day. According to the IMD, the maximum and minimum temperatures for Noida on Thursday were recorded at 32.9 degrees Celsius and 13.8 degrees Celsius, respectively, against 17.9 degrees Celsius and 30.8 degrees Celsius a day earlier.