Morning After Diwali…! Hyderabad air quality takes a beating

Hyderabad: The city saw excessive pollution levels on Diwali for a few hours, with air being filled heavily with particulate matter from Monday night till Tuesday morning. According to data of Central Pollution Control Broad there is a massive dip in the air quality index and compare to last year, as it was in the satisfactory category but this year the air quality index is 654 which falls under the category of hazardous.

According to data, the average air quality in the city last two weeks was at 8 which falls in the good air quality category of 0-50. But on Diwali, there has been a massive dip in air quality. Air Quality Index (AQI) measures the fine particulate matter with under 2.5 microns diameter referred as particulate matter (PM)2.5400 as severe with a warning affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases. The areas which appear to be the worst hit was Nacharam and Sanathnagar.

According to the National Air Quality Index by CPCB, the predominantly residential areas of Sanathnagar, New Malakpet, Somajiguda and Ramachandrapuram monitoring stations' air quality index peaked at 11 p.m and stayed there till early morning on Tuesday.

While the Nacharam monitoring stations peaked at 446 at 11 p.m. At 5 a.m, the Sanathnagar monitoring station had AQI on par with Delhi's Wazirpur at 314. The AQI peaked in Sanathnagar at 10 p.m. when the monitoring station recorded 759 µg/m³. At 6 p.m., before the crackers started going off, the AQI was a healthy 53 in the area. As per the data air pollution monitoring station that covers the area of Secundarabad logged 377 AQI at 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

"As per Central Pollution Control Broad (CPCB) directions the TSPCB have started carrying out a special purpose (Diwali) AAQ monitoring before the day of Diwali and very soon the final report will be released. Telangana State Pollution Control Board is regularly monitoring the Ambient Air Quality(AAQ) with respect to the particulate matter, gases and noise levels in the city and at various places in the state of Telangana" said senior officer, TSPCB.