The air quality across the region remained in the ‘very poor’ category with people continuing to wake up to dense smog and poor visibility on Friday.
Thick smog, mainly caused by stubble burning, continued to envelop parts of Punjab, Haryana and has also, deteriorated the air quality in Chandigarh, the joint capital of two states.
According to the Haryana Pollution Control Board, all districts especially 13 in the national capital region are worst affected due to the high pollution levels. In Chandigarh, the air quality has plunged to ‘very poor’ category.
As per the data of Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC), in the past few days, the air quality index (AQI) of the city has stayed in the 301-400 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m³) limit, which is categorised as ‘very poor’.
In industrial area, the AQI has increased from 306 to 352 in the past one week. Only a day before, the AQI at Sector 39 was 303. The AQI from 1 to 50 is considered as good, from 50 to 100 as moderate, 201 to 300 as poor and from 301-400 as very poor.
According to the latest available data, the city has high concentration of PM 10- (particulate matters with diameter of 10 microns or less) and PM2.5 (particulate matters less than 2.5 microns)-form of air pollution, which can cause severe health problems.
The Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) and PM 2.5 exceeded the permissible limits at all five locations monitored by CPCC in the city. While the level of PM 2.5 was more than triple, the standard of 60 µg/m³, the level of PM 10 ( RSPM) was double the limit of 100 at industrial area, Sector 39 in the city.
The air quality in the neighboring township of Panchkula has also plunged due to smog. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the level of PM 2.5 was recorded as 139.89 µg/m3 in Panchkula in past 24 hours.
In Gurugram, the level of PM 2.5 was 389.50 µg/m3 while in Rohtak, it was 312.39 µg/m3 in past 24 hours, as per CPCB data. A day before, the level of PM 2.5 was 513.80 µg/m3 in Gurugram, which is in ‘severe’ category.
Meanwhile, the Chandigarh Met Department has predicted that people of the region might get some respite from smog in next 48 hours.
“The smog in the region is likely to get cleared in next 48 hours,” said Surender Pal, Director Chandigarh Meteorological Department while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that the situation is improving and people in various parts of the region woke up to a slightly less hazy morning on Friday as smog subsided to an extent.
Many districts in Haryana and Punjab are worst affected due to the smog and are witnessing poor visibility of less than 150 m due to smog. A day before visibility was less than 150 m in Karnal, Kaithal and various parts of Haryana and Punjab, he said.
Western disturbances are approaching the region and rains are expected on November 13 and 14, Pal added.
Manomohan Singh, Director of Shimla Met Department said that like previous years, the smog has affected Sirmour and Una districts of Himachal. The smog also hampered visibility in Bilaspur and some districts of Hamirpur this year, added he.