A new analysis of pollution data in and around the National Capital Region (NCR) has revealed that 14 new locations experienced worsening air quality in the winter than the national average. The Centre for Science and Environment, based in Delhi, conducted the research (CSE).
According to the CSE, these 14 hot spots had higher levels of air pollutants than the national average of 197 micrograms per cubic metre. According to the CSE, these areas include Alipur, DTU, ITO, Nehru Nagar, Patparganj, Sonia Vihar, and Vivek Vihar in Delhi, Sector 1 and 116 in Noida, Loni, Sanjay Vihar, and Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, Knowledge Park V in Greater Noida, and Bulandshahr.
According to the CSE, lockdowns improved air quality in Delhi-NCR this year as well, but not as effectively as last year due to the shorter and less stringent 2021 curbs.
“In 2020, partial lockdown started on March 12 with hard lockdown kicking in on March 25, which was lifted in phase-wise manner from May 18. Then the partial lockdown also brought PM2.5 levels down by 20 per cent, but the hard lockdown reduced it by another 35 per cent,” the CSE said.
According to the report, the lifting of restrictions on May 18 resulted in a 28 percent increase in PM2.5 levels.
This trend could be attributed to meteorology, but it could also be the result of a deterioration in pollution control measures and efforts in the city and region, according to the report.
The intensity of traffic was also higher in 2021, according to the report.
According to the CSE analysis, there were 27 “very poor” days in February-March this year, compared to 17 in 2020 and 12 in 2019.
Days meeting the air quality standard also plummeted this spring to just two. The year 2020 had 16 and 2019 had six days when the standard was met, it said.
