Lucknow displaces Delhi as most polluted city, Agra a close second

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CPCB regarded these cities as severely polluted in its latest AQI report and defined the severity as the one which also “affects healthy people” and “seriously impacts those with existing diseases”.

Even Varanasi, the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was regarded as “very poor” in terms of air quality with 400 AQI value. The other three cities under the category of “very poor” included Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Jaipur. The same report defined “possible health impact” in cities under “very poor” air quality index as the one which can cause “respiratory illness on prolonged exposure”

In addition to this, Pune, Jodhpur and Gurgaon were reported to have “poor” air quality, which can “cause breathing discomfort on prolonged exposure”. A day before, Faridabad was reported to be the most polluted. Meanwhile, state Chief Secretary Rahul Bhatnagar called a special review meeting Tuesday over the prevailing situation and ordered immediate closure of stone-crushing units and earth work being undertaken in multi-storied buildings for the next two days.

He asked the municipal corporation to ensure that garbage dumps are not set on fire in the city. The revenue department has been asked to ensure that farmers in neighbouring areas do not burn waste crop. Along with this, the chief secretary has also asked the state Road and Transport Department to start extensive checking of vehicles and fine those that do not meet pollution control standards.

However, earlier in the day, SR Sachan, Chief Environmental Officer of Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board claimed in an official communication that the overall affect of air pollution in UP was lesser than Delhi or the NCR region. But as far as cities like Lucknow, Agra and Kanpur were concerned, the affect of dense smog was visible for most of the day.