Lucknow's air nears ‘very poor’ mark as mercury drops

LUCKNOW: As cold weather intensified, air pollution level in the city neared the ‘very poor’ mark on Wednesday. The Air Quality Index (AQI) soared by 118 units in the past six days to touch 298 — just two units short of ‘very poor’ category. Prolonged exposure to such air can cause respiratory problems.

No relief is expected in the coming days as concentration of superfine particulate matter in the atmosphere is likely to increase due to low temperatures, slow wind velocity and formation of fog.
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Lucknow had recorded very high pollution levels (AQI 350-430) in the first half of November. Improved wind speed had provided a temporary breather from poor quality air on the last two days of November, with AQI going below 200.
However, with temperatures gradually falling, air quality has seen a decline again and is expected to get worse over the next few days.
“The air is now deteriorating at a faster pace as compared to the past five days. Earlier, pollution level rose by 2-20 units per day. That has now increased to 43 units in a day,” said Prof Dhruvsen Singh, director of Lucknow University’s climate and air quality monitoring cell.