The district’s air quality remained in the “poor” category on Saturday, with an AQI of 258, marginally higher than Friday’s 266, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. Two of the district’s four monitoring stations contributed to the reading, which marks the third consecutive day of deteriorating air.
Officials said the spike coincides with the ongoing sale and bursting of “green firecrackers,” permitted between October 18 and 21 under Supreme Court orders, which has offered temporary relief to traders but further strained the city’s already worsening air.
According to Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), the concentration of fine particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10 has increased sharply, pushing Gurugram to third place among Delhi-NCR cities in terms of air pollution levels. Other NCR cities like Gurugram and Greater Noida recorded an AQI of 258 (poor) and 248 (poor) respectively. Meanwhile, Delhi was at 268 on Saturday.
Akansha Tanwar, an environmental engineer at HSPCB, said that vehicular emissions and construction activity are the two main contributors to the city’s air pollution. “Around 70% of the pollution comes from vehicular movement, while the remaining 30% is due to construction sites and unmanaged construction and demolition waste,” she said.
Outlining measures being taken to curb the trend, Tanwar said, “We’ve launched anti-cracker awareness rallies and are conducting regular sampling of water, soil, and air. Inspections at construction sites are being carried out to ensure compliance with dust-control norms. Additionally, surprise checks will be conducted at firecracker godowns to ensure only green crackers are being sold.”
Krishan Kumar, regional officer of HSPCB, also emphasised that Gurugram’s air pollution is primarily due to local factors. “It’s the city’s own issues, such as broken roads and footpaths, that are significantly contributing to rising dust levels in the air,” he said. He listed Dwarka Expressway, Gurugram-Faridabad Road, Khushboo Chowk, and sectors 88, 90, 92, and 95 among the high-pollution zones.
Ravinder Yadav, additional commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), said, “Water sprinkling operations have been initiated across the city to help settle dust and curb rising pollution levels.”
To be sure, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and Adjoining Areas had imposed stage one of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap) had been invoked on October 14, which is still in place.
Meanwhile, forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) suggest that the AQI might degrade to severe by Tuesday.
“The air quality is very likely to be in the upper end of the poor category on Sunday. The air quality is very likely to be in the upper end of the Very Poor category on Monday as well. The air quality may reach the severe category on Tuesday in case of enhanced emissions from firecrackers. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the severe to poor category,” said the AQEWS bulletin on Saturday evening.
Temperature
Gurugram’s maximum temperature was 31.8 degrees Celsius (°C). Meanwhile, the minimum was at 18.3°C.