Air quality ‘bad’ in large parts of Punjab, Haryana; ‘very poor’ Chandigarh

View of traffic on Chandigarh Highway, Patiala, Punjab. | Photo Credit: PTI

The air quality in several parts of Punjab and Haryana was recorded in the ‘poor’ category on Saturday (November 9, 2024), while it was worst in the union capital of Chandigarh with an AQI of 322 falling in the ‘very poor’ category. ‘the group.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer App, which provides hourly updates, Haryana’s Bahadugarh recorded an Air Quality Index of 314 – again in the ‘very poor’ category – at 9 am.

Among other places in Haryana, the AQI in Sonipat was 290, Hisar (285), Bhiwani (277), Jind (275), Charkhi Dadri (258), Gurugram (259), Faridabad (220), Yamunanagar (213), Rohtak (238), Kurukshetra (202), Kaithal (205), Fatehabad (198), Ambala (160), Sirsa (181), and Karnal (144). In Punjab, AQI was registered at 264 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 258 in Amritsar, 257 in Rupnagar, 248 in Jalandhar, 197 in Ludhiana, 183 in Bathinda, 176 in Khanna, and 133 in Patiala. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘ very poor’, 401 and 450 ‘severe’ and above 450 ‘very poor’.

The rise in air pollution levels in the two States and Delhi during this time of the year is often blamed on farm fires. Punjab reported 730 farm fire incidents on Friday (November 8, 2024), taking the total to 6,029 in the State this season.

Since the window for the Rabi crop – wheat – is very short after the paddy harvest, some farmers burn their fields to quickly remove the crop residue for the next crop.