Taking account of the poor air quality in the state, Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda on Tuesday said the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government did not pay attention to Haryana’s air quality for the past 9-10 years.
Citing a report on the AQI, the Congress MP also informed that nine cities of Haryana were included in the top 27 most polluted cities in the world.
Speaking to ANI on the issue, Hooda said, “Air pollution is a serious issue. Today a report has come in which out of 27 cities, 9 cities are from Haryana. This should be a focus area. It can’t be solved by a blame game.”
“Everyone knows there is industrial pollution, vehicular pollution and others, the issue of stubble burning is a very small part of it. The BJP government didn’t pay attention in the last 9-10 years. I would request Congress to include this in the manifesto that Haryana will have the cleanest air,” Hooda added.
Earlier, the overall air quality in Haryana declined to the ‘poor’ category, with the Air Quality Index recorded at 196 on October 22, as per AQI.IN.
The PM2.5 concentration in Haryana was recorded 5.9 times above the recommended limit given by the World Health Organization’s 24-hour air quality guidelines value.
As per AQI.IN (AQI Air Quality Index: Real-time Air Pollution Level), “Generally, the air quality at Haryana starts deteriorating in late October. The winters are the worst-hit season in terms of air pollution.”
As per the site, the air pollution level was recorded in the poor category zone in several districts of Haryana.
Earlier in the day, the overall air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday morning, as per SAFAR-India.
According to the latest data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality around Delhi University was recorded at 330 (very poor) at noon, while IGI Terminal T3 in New Delhi was at 313 against 276 in the morning hours.
The Air Quality Index is a tool for effective communication of air quality status to people in terms that are easy to understand. There are six AQI categories, namely Good + Satisfactory, Moderately Polluted, Poor, Very Poor, and Severe.
Each of these categories is decided based on the ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely health impacts (known as health breakpoints). (ANI)
