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Gurugram’s air quality index (AQI) inched towards ‘severe’ at 390 on Tuesday. It was 376 the day before.

Two of the city’s four air quality monitoring stations reported AQI in the ‘severe’ category – Sector 51 (439) and Teri Gram (423) – while Vikas Sadan (331) and Gwalpahari (397) had ‘very poor’ air.
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According to experts, the air quality is likely to remain within ‘very poor’ or lower end of ‘severe’ categories for next three days due to the combined effect of transport of stubble burning-related pollutants as well as local emissions and weather conditions. Local surface winds will oscillate between 3kmph and 5kmph for the next three days, causing moderate dispersion of pollutants. Fine particles (with size of more than 2.5 micrometres) contribute 58% to PM10.
“The meteorological conditions aren’t in favour of dispersing pollutants. Our teams are working on the ground, but it is the responsibility of all citizens to act wisely to bring down the pollution,” said Kuldeep Singh, the HSPCB regional officer for Gurugram.
Meanwhile, Faridabad’s air turned ‘severe’ on Tuesday with an overall AQI of 403. This is the first time that it has reported ‘severe’ AQI this year.
Three of Faridabad’s four air monitoring stations reported an AQI of over 401 (severe) – Sector 11 (431), Sector 16A (433) and New Industrial Town (427) – while the Sector 30 station (298) had ‘poor’ AQI.
According to HSPCB, road dust is the primary reason for the air turning ‘severe’ in Faridabad. “Localised issues like traffic congestion and road dust are the major reasons for the ‘severe’ air quality. We are taking all measures as per stage 3 of the graded response action plan (GRAP) to mitigate pollution,” said Samita Kanodia, HSPCB regional officer for Faridabad.
The GRAP for NCR has now been classified under four different stages of adverse air quality in Delhi, reflected through the AQI. While stage 1 is implemented when the AQI is ‘poor’ (AQI 201-300), stage 2 when it is ‘very poor’ (AQI 301-400), stage 3 when the air is ‘severe’ (AQI 401-450) and stage 4 when it is ‘severe+’ (AQI >450).
Actions under stages 2, 3 and 4 should be invoked at least three days in advance of the AQI reaching to the projected levels of that stage, based on the dynamic model and meteorological forecast to be provided to the Commission for Air Quality Management by IITM on a day-to-day basis.
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