19 Indian Cities Record 'Severe' Air Quality Levels; Hisar Most Polluted

Along with Delhi, pollution levels in the northern parts of India are rising relentlessly this week. On Wednesday, November 13, the Central Pollution Control Board’s Daily Bulletin revealed that as many as 19 cities are currently reeling under severe levels of air pollution.

According to the evening bulletin, the city of Hisar in Haryana topped the most polluted Indian cities list on the day, with a ‘severe’ Air Quality Index (AQI) of 476.

Haryana’s Bhiwani (471), along with Uttar Pradesh’s Noida (470) and Ghaziabad (467) followed closely.

In total, 19 cities from all across the country recorded ‘severe’ AQIs on Wednesday evening. AQIs within the range of 401 and 500 are categorised as ‘severe’. Such pollution levels can affect healthy people and severely impact those with existing diseases.

Moving forward, northwestern states could see some improvement in air quality within the next 48 hours, thanks to an approaching western disturbance. The disturbance, currently located over Afghanistan and its neighbouring areas as a cyclonic circulation, is expected to increase the surface wind speed in and around Delhi starting Friday, November 15. Therefore, a marginal improvement in the regional AQIs is expected by Friday, while a substantial one could follow by Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India, during a hearing on Wednesday, heavily criticised the central government for its inability to curb consistently high pollution levels in North India.

To find solutions for the poor air quality issues, the Apex Court has urged the government to explore the possibility of using hydrogen-based fuel technologies, including those from Japan, to directly tackle air pollution.

The court expects the centre to submit a report on the subject by December 3.