Ghaziabad second most polluted city in country with ‘severe’ AQI

Ghaziabad city for the second consecutive day on Tuesday recorded “severe” air quality to become country’s second most polluted city after Delhi.
Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said the prevailing meteorological conditions have affected the dispersal of pollutants and made the air quality plummet.
According to the 4pm daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), on Tuesday, Ghaziabad recorded an AQI of 434, which was second only to Delhi which recorded an AQI of 460. The bulletin said all four monitoring stations in Ghaziabad had particulate matter (PM)2.5 as the primary pollutant.
On Monday, the AQI in Ghaziabad was 438 (severe).
Nearby National Capital Region (NCR) cities of Bulandshahr, Gurugram and Hapur also recorded “severe” AQI with readings of 416, 402 and 419, respectively, on Tuesday. Monday was the first day this year when Ghaziabad experienced “severe” AQI, said UPPCB officials.
In Ghaziabad, the four monitoring stations of Indirapuram, Loni, Sanjay Nagar and Vasundhara averaged (past 24-hours) AQIs of 375, 476, 440 and 444, respectively, on Tuesday.
According to AQI scale, the AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, 401 and 450 “severe” and above 450 “severe plus”.
Vikas Mishra, the UPPCB regional officer in Ghaziabad, was not available for comment.
“The prevailing meteorological conditions have severely affected the dispersal of pollutants in the NCR, including Ghaziabad and Noida. The wind speed is also low and fog/mist has aided the accumulation of suspended particulate matter. Unlike Ghaziabad, which has an estimated 100 to 150 air polluting industrial units, Noida has less than 10 air polluting units and the construction activities have also ceased there. Noida was ‘severe’ on Monday and it saw marginally better AQI of 370 under ”very poor” on Tuesday,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB, Noida.
Noida on Monday recorded AQI of 423 under “severe” while Greater Noida stood at 372 under “very poor”. Greater Noida’s AQI on Tuesday stood in same category at 372.
“The high AQI levels are severely affecting the health of residents, including senior citizens and children. A thick layer of smog is prevailing and making breathing difficult. The road dust, instances of garbage burning and vehicular pollution have aided the spike in pollution,” said Vikrant Sharma, a city-based environmentalist.
The official records compiled by the UPPCB said that Ghaziabad city suffered 24 “severe” days in 2020, 22 in 2021, two in 2022, three in 2023 and two in 2024 till Tuesday.
The officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation said they are taking every possible effort under Stage 4 of the graded response action plan to contain pollution.
“Water sprinkling is going on over a road length of 154km in Ghaziabad with the help of 30 water sprinklers while eight mechanised road sweeping machines have already been deployed to get rid of road dust. The water sprinkling is being monitored through GPS on a daily basis. About ₹94,000 penalty was realised from the municipal area on Tuesday for open storage of construction material,” municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Malik said in a statement on Tuesday.
Municipal officials said eight persons were fined ₹60,000 for burning of garbage while 21 tandoors were also shut down.