So far, this paddy Punjab pollution level on Wednesday recording an average AQI of 344, as per the data of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
On Tuesday, the average AQI of Punjab was recorded 205 (poor category) whereas on Monday it recorded 148 (moderate) average AQL. The monitoring stations at Khanna and Ludhiana recorded severe category pollution with Khanna witnessing 417 AQI and Ludhiana with 408 AQI on Wednesday whereas on November 8 (Tuesday) Khanna recorded 207 AQI (poor category) and Ludhiana 351 AQI (very poor).
Patiala (368 AQI), Jalandhar (333 AQI) and Amritsar (320 AQI) monitoring stations recorded pollution under very poor category on Wednesday however Mandi Gobindgarh has witnessed lowest pollution 219 AQI. On Tuesday also Mandi Gobindgarh recorded lowest pollution with 105 AQI values (moderate category). Besides, on Tuesday, Jalandhar (177 AQI) and Amritsar (140) stations also recorded pollution under moderate category but both slipped to very poor category only in a day.
Chandigarh, the joint cap ital of Punjab and Haryana also had an AQI of 400, only one notch below the severe category While Delhi’s level was at 260, which falls in the “poor” category.
As per the CPCB bulletin. the AQI was in very poor category in Kaithal (391), Yamunanagar (371), Karnal (337). Panchkula (330), Panipat (320), and Fatehabad (308).
The air quality of five cities and towns, including Sirsa (276), Faridabad (248), Ballabgarh (216), Hisar (215), and Jind (211), was recorded in the poor category.
The AQI was a 24-hour average calculated from 4pm on November 8 to 4pm on November 9.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘sat isfactory, 101-200 moderate’, 201-300 poor, 301-400 ‘very poor, and 401-500 ‘severe. An AQI above 500 falls in the ‘severe plus’ category .
On Wednesday, as many as 69 fresh cases of stubble burning were reported in Haryana. With this, the number of active fire locations reached 2,693 since September 25.
Karunesh Garg, PPCB member secretary said, “The change in weather conditions and lack of dispersion of smoke are some major reasons behind the rise in AQI level of Punjab. The downfall in temperature and calm conditions of windflow in Punjab including Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar are some other factors. Moreover, the wind from Delhi has flown towards different direction, covering Jind, Rohtak, Sirsa of Haryana and parts of Rajasthan due less pollution levels were recorded in Delhi. On Tuesday, the winds blew from southeast towards Punjab, but more accurate figures of wind flow can be checked with the meteorological department. There were 604 farm fires on November 8 this year compared to were 4397 on the corresponding in 2021. The stubble burning cases on November 9 this year were 1,778 against the 5089 cases on the corresponding day in 2021.
