Noida: After dense morning fog pushed visibility below 800 metres, air quality across Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad worsened on Saturday, slipping into the ‘very poor’ category.Noida’s air quality index (AQI) rose to 324, up from 257 on Friday. Despite excess rainfall this Jan, the city has recorded significantly higher pollution levels than last year. So far this month, Noida has logged 15 ‘very poor’ air days, 12 ‘poor’ days, two ‘severe’ days and two ‘moderate’ days. In contrast, Jan last year saw 15 ‘moderate’ days, two ‘good’ air days. While there were no ‘severe’ AQI day, the city had logged just two ‘very poor’ days and 12 ‘poor’ days.Greater Noida, which recorded the worst air quality among the three cities, also saw a sharp deterioration, with AQI jumping to 328 from 248 a day earlier, pushing it into the ‘very poor’ range. The city has recorded 15 ‘very poor’ days, 12 ‘poor’ days, one ‘severe’ day and two ‘moderate’ days this month. Last Jan, air quality was largely better, with only one ‘very poor’ day and 18 days remaining in the ‘moderate’ category.Ghaziabad’s AQI stood at 313 on Saturday, up from 303 the previous day. The city has already seen 16 ‘very poor’ days and two ‘severe’ days this month, with just one ‘moderate’ day. By comparison, Jan last year recorded four ‘very poor’ days, 11 ‘poor’ days and several ‘moderate’ days, along with two ‘good’ air days.Station-wise data highlighted severe localised pollution. In Noida, Sector 125 recorded an AQI of 380, Sector 116 logged 357 and Sector 1 stood at 343, all in the ‘very poor’ category. Sector 62 was relatively lower at 216, though still ‘poor’. In Greater Noida, Knowledge Park V recorded 349, while Knowledge Park III logged 306. In Ghaziabad, Loni recorded 351, while Vasundhara and Sanjay Nagar registered 253 and 236, respectively. Data for Indirapuram was unavailable.Delhi’s air quality also worsened, with the AQI slipping to 315 from 253 on Friday.The deterioration in AQI coincided with a drop in minimum temperatures across the NCR. The maximum temperature on Saturday was 18°C, while the minimum settled at 10°C.The India Meteorological Department, meanwhile, has forecast light rain on Sunday, with brief spells accompanied by thunderstorms during the early morning to forenoon, followed by another light spell later in the day. Shallow to moderate fog is also expected during morning hours.According to the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, weak winds from the southeast, peaking at 10 kmph during the afternoon and dropping below 8 kmph by evening, along with low temperatures, trapped pollutants close to the surface.
