State air quality worse than Delhi, Kolkota ?
Source: The Sangai Express
CCpur, March 18 2019:
Even as the bad air quality in the National capital as well as other metros like Kolkata and Mumbai has grabbed all attention, the State's air quality has dipped from 'unhealthy for sensitive groups' to 'Unhealthy' on Monday surpassing the likes of Kolkata and Delhi, according to air quality monitoring app Air Visual.
The mobile app which classifies air quality into Good (0-50), Moderate (51-100), Unhealthy for sensitive groups (101-150), Unhealthy (151-200), Very Unhealthy (201-300) and Hazardous (301-500) shows the Air Quality Index (US) of Churachandpur as 197 while that of Imphal as 182 .
It also shows the pollutant particulate matter, PM 2.5 µg/m3 for Imphal as 115.1 while for Churachandpur it stood at 145.5 .
The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality.
It tells how clean or polluted the air is and focuses on health effects one may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
The app therefore advises the use of mask when outdoor, closing windows to avoid dirty outdoor air and to avoid outdoor exercise in the State with its current AQI.
The main sources of the current pollutants in most likelihood will be the smoke and soot emitted from burning of jhum fields while vehicle emission and dust emitted from the roads could be another factor.
The app, which specifies its reports as based on satellite data nevertheless gives four common sources of PM 2.5 pollutants along with the short term and long term effects on human health.
Churachandpur last clogged the Unhealthy level in the third week of February for a couple of days.
Thereafter it traded within 'Moderate' and 'Unhealthy for sensitive groups' until yesterday.
The sudden climb in the PM 2.5 counts despite a brief rainfall about 3 am today could be due to the burning of jhum fields as soot emitted could be seen all over as was the case in the past.
Haze filled air has gripped most parts of the State with substantial reduced visibility.
The trend according to the app is likely to persist for a couple of more days.