The air quality in Hyderabad plummeted as the city and the country celebrated the festival of Diwali by bursting firecrackers throughout the night on Monday.
The average air quality in the city on October 18 was ‘8,’ according to data from the Air Quality Index website, which falls in the ‘good’ air quality category of 0-50. However, as Diwali approached and firecracker celebrations increased, the graph showed a massive drop in air quality, reaching a low of ‘654’ on Tuesday at 07:06 in the morning which falls under the category of ‘Hazardous’ (401-500).
According to the website, prolonged exposure to ‘Hazardous’ category air can result in premature death.
At 11:53 a.m. on Tuesday, the latest PM2.5 concentration in Hyderabad was 8.2 times higher than the recommended limit given by the WHO 24 hrs air quality guidelines value.
According to data available on the Pollution Control Board website, the air quality index for the mostly residential areas of Sanathnagar, New Malakpet, Somajiguda, and Ramachandrapuram monitoring stations was 500 around 11 p.m. and remained there until early the next morning. At 11:00 p.m., the highest of the Nacharam monitoring stations was 446.
Fine particulate matter, or PM 2.5, is a unit of measurement for the air quality index. The Central Pollution Control Board’s classification of AQI readings above 400 as severe includes a warning that “affects healthy persons and substantially hurts those with existing ailments”
Higher levels of air pollution are linked to an increase in cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, as well as an increase in the frequency and severity of Covid-19 infections.
According to a recent study, Hyderabad is the fourth most polluted city in the country after Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, and is the most polluted megacity in the southern part of the country, according to data on the IQAir website on October 21.
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