Noida: Before winter, UPPCB begins study of pollutants. Noida News – Times of India

Noida: With winter a few months away, Uttar Pradesh Pollution control Board (UPPCB) Officials have started studying the source of Pollution and preparing an action plan to ensure that local sources remain under control during the ensuing winter months.
With pollution levels remaining in the ‘moderate’ to ‘good’ category over the past one month, officials said that even with all activities back to their normalcy no more lockdown air quality in Noida and Greater Noida remained within limits. The major pollutants have been PM10, followed by PM 2.5 and NO2 on certain days.

In the past one week, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in both Noida and Greater Noida has been below 100 on most days. On September 6, the AQI in Noida was 119 and in Greater Noida was 122, which was only slightly over 100.
Meanwhile, on September 4, the AQI in Greater Noida was 50 (good) and in Noida it was 52 (satisfactory). Similarly, on September 1, both the cities had ‘good’ air with AQI at 42 in Noida and 32 in Greater Noida.
UPPCB regional officer Praveen Kumar said, “All human activities like transportation and construction are going on right now. Pollution levels are still low since early August. It just shows that the norms are being followed. We are studying the sources and will only try to ensure that these activities continue without any violations.”
He said that there is only one polluting industry in the district and hardly any case of stubble burning comes to the fore at the local level. So, the major sources of air pollution are usually construction and transportation. An external agency has also been hired to study the exact sources and areas that could be pollution hotspots.
“We cannot control climate change and outdoor pollution from other districts, which are major reasons for poor air quality during winters. Low temperatures trap pollutants within the atmosphere. However, our focus will be on controlling local activities.”
He said that there are many construction projects going on in the district and more work is going on in some areas than others. They may be asked to work in phases and follow all NGT guidelines like regular sprinkling of water. Kumar said that in congested areas where vehicles stop for a long time, attention is also being taken so that traffic management measures can be taken.