Air quality dips in Hyderabad on Diwali eve

Hyderabad: Air pollution was higher on Monday night in the State capital than the Diwali of 2021. According to the data available from Telangana State Pollution Control Board, till midnight, the air quality reading averaged 140 at Sanath Nagar while it averaged 48 last year Diwali night. The air quality, which was satisfactory across many […]

Hyderabad: Air pollution was higher on Monday night in the State capital than the Diwali of 2021.

According to the data available from Telangana State Pollution Control Board, till midnight, the air quality reading averaged 140 at Sanath Nagar while it averaged 48 last year Diwali night.

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The air quality, which was satisfactory across many places in the city on Monday till evening, peaked at around 10 pm as high-decibel firecrackers thundered throughout Diwali night. While it again started improving post 1 am in some areas, other residential and commercial regions like Sanathnagar, Ameerpet, Somajiguda, Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills, and Banjara Hills remained in the moderate to poor category till Tuesday evening.

Sanathnagar’s air pollution monitoring station logged 271 AQI at 5 am on Tuesday, classified as ‘poor’. At Kokapet monitoring station, the pollution hit 146 by 10 pm on Diwali night.

At New Malakpet, it was 119 by 10 pm, and in the afternoon, the air quality here was 161, considered moderate. Somajiguda breathed poor air all through Diwali night and the next day as well as air quality there spiked to 215 in the evening on Tuesday.

By 10 pm on Monday, the ICRISAT Patancheru sampling station recorded an air quality index of 105 while the Kompally station showed 67. The Bolarum monitoring station showed 127 on the night of Diwali and soared to 148 in the evening on Tuesday.

Despite the bursting of firecrackers, a slew of locations recorded ‘satisfactory’ AQI. The air at ECIL all through Diwali night and the next day was breathable.

An 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,’ and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

Higher air pollution levels are associated with increased cardiovascular, and respiratory illnesses and frequency.

Air quality at 10 pm on Monday

Kokapet: 146
Bollaram Industrial Area: 127
Central University: 111
ECIL Kapra: 55
ICRISAT Patancheru: 105
IDA Pashamylaram: 115
IITH Kandi: 64
Kompally Municipal Office: 67
Nacharam: 93
New Malakpet: 119
Ramachandrapuram: 101
Somajiguda: 107
Zoo Park: 143