The air pollution across Uttar Pradesh shot up following Diwali with most cities registering a spike in the Air Quality Index (AQI).
In the state capital, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) increased a few points on Diwali day but remained moderate with AQI of 182 on Thursday. It, however, turned ‘very poor’ on Friday, a day after Diwali.
On Friday, the AQI recorded in Lucknow was 306, a jump of 124 points from Diwali. On Wednesday, a day before Diwali the AQI in Lucknow was recorded at 175 as per Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) data.
Likewise, similar trends were also reported in big cities, including Kanpur where the AQI jumped to 289 on Friday from 131 on Diwali. In Meerut, it jumped to 294 from 202. In Ghaziabad, it moved to 306 on Friday from 273. Greater Noida, Noida, Muzaffarnagar, Agra and other Western UP cities reflected a similar trend.
According to experts, the marked change in AQI post Diwali is primarily caused by increased human activities during the festive season.
The six stations set up in Lucknow record extreme air pollution on Diwali night especially between 10 pm to 2 pm.
In an effort to monitor pollution, six live monitoring stations have been established by pollution control boards, including locations like Talkatora, Lalbagh, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Gomti Nagar, Kukrail, and BR Ambedkar University.
The AQI is categorized as follows — 0-50 (good), 51-100 (satisfactory), 101-200 (moderate), 201-300 (poor), 301-400 (very poor), and 401-500 (severe ).
