Noida: The region’s air quality deteriorated on Monday, with Noida’s air quality index (AQI) entering the ‘very poor’ category for the first time this season as the city recorded an AQI of 330, against 248 (poor) the day before. Greater Noida and Ghaziabad both remained in the ‘poor’ zone with an average AQI of 281 against 228 and 227, respectively, on Sunday.In the capital, too, air quality slipped to ‘very poor’ for the first time this season. Delhi recorded an average AQI of 324 by 4pm on Monday, the worst since Feb 11 this year.Of the six air quality monitoring stations in Noida, five stations recorded ‘very poor’ air on Monday, with only the Sector 125 station recording AQI in the ‘poor’ category at 294. Sector 62 recorded the worst air quality on Monday with an AQI of 391 – only a few notches short of hitting the ‘severe’ mark.In Greater Noida, Knowledge Park-V recorded the worst AQI at 353, while the Knowledge Park III and Shiv Nadar University stations both recorded ‘poor’ AQI at 249 and 266, respectively. In Ghaziabad, three of the city’s eight stations recorded ‘very poor’ air, with New Tehsil Loni recording the worst AQI at 385, followed by Loni (339) and Sanjay Nagar (332). Govindpuram recorded the best AQI in the region at 112 in the ‘moderate’ zone.As a result, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) imposed GRAP-II, which calls on govt to impose staggered office timings and a parking fee hike. However, under Delhi govt’s latest anti-pollution framework that came into effect on Nov 1, private construction is already banned from Nov 1 to Jan 31, with a blanket ban between Dec 10 and Jan 20. Its winter pollution framework also calls for a ban on entry of non-Delhi-registered BS-VI or vehicles below the standard.The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) cited low wind speed and high humidity as reasons for the worsening of AQI.The city saw a hazy sky with temperatures below normal Monday. The maximum at Safdarjung, the base station, was 29.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. The minimum temperature was 16.4 degrees Celsius, a degree above normal, compared with 18 degrees Celsius a day earlier.Met expects maximum and minimum temperatures to hover around 28-30 degrees Celsius and 15-17 degrees Celsius Tuesday.
