Chennai residents woke up to a hazy sky on Monday (November 13), a day after the Deepavali festival, as the air quality deteriorated to ‘poor’.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) real-time air quality monitoring data, the overall air quality index (AQI) of Chennai was 256 as of the early hours of Monday. This puts the city in the same category as Delhi, which had an AQI of 294.
According to the National Air Monitoring Programme’s AQI scale, the air quality check between 0 and 50 is ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 450 ‘severe’.
Of the seven Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations in Chennai, Manali recorded the highest AQI of 329, falling under the ‘very poor’ category, followed by Velachery (322), Alandur (267), Royapuram (237), Arumbakkam (261). While data from the Perungudi station was unavailable on Monday, the air quality index was well over 220 as of Deepavali night.
‘Poor’ air quality may cause breathing discomfort to people on prolonged exposure, and discomfort to people with heart disease, as per the union ministry. Notably, the standards set by the CPCB are less stringent than the World Health Organization.
Since the morning of Deepavali, the air quality has deteriorated from ‘moderately polluted’ to ‘poor’. An advisory issued by the Chennai Police said crackers should be burst only between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. However, residents continued to burst crackers beyond the specified timings, adding to the pollution.
