Chandigarh chokes as air quality drops below Punjab, Haryana amid rising farm fires
Chandigarh has the region's lowest air quality, exceeding both Punjab and Haryana amid a rise in farm fires in Punjab.
PTC News Desk: Chandigarh has the region's lowest air quality, exceeding both Punjab and Haryana amid a rise in farm fires in Punjab.
On Saturday, Chandigarh's Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the "very poor" category (over 300) for the fourth day in a row, surpassing even the average AQI score on Diwali night (302), when extensive cracker bursting had increased pollution levels.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) AQI bulletin, the average AQI value at 4 p.m. for all three stations in Chandigarh was 332, placing it in the very poor category.
This was higher than the most polluted cities in Punjab (Amritsar 267, Rupnagar 264) and Haryana (Bahadurgarh 305, Charkhi Dadri 292).
Chandigarh's air quality decreased throughout the day.
By 7 p.m., the AQI had reached 343 at the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) in Sector 53 and 342 in Sector 22, with Sector 25 recording an AQI of 319, all in the very poor category.
The pollution crisis coincides with a surge in farm fires in Punjab, which reported 730 new occurrences on Friday—the biggest single-day tally this season, bringing the state's total to 6,029.
A reading between 301 and 400 is considered "very poor" on the CPCB's AQI scale, whereas 201-300 is "poor" and 400 or more is "severe".