On Diwali,poor air quality at Hadapsar & Shivajinagar,low particulate pollution at Nigdi

The lowest level of particulate pollution was observed at Nigdi.

This Diwali,the quality of air in the city ranged from moderate to poor,and as predicted by the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) scientists,Hadapsar and Shivajinagar saw high particulate pollution on lakshmi pooja and padwa (November 3 and 4). The lowest level of particulate pollution was observed at Nigdi.

For the first time since its installation,SAFAR had predicted poor air quality at various places during Diwali. Based on the SAFAR forecast it was predicted that the maximum levels of particulate pollution – PM10 and PM2.5 would be at Hadapsar (230 ug/m3 for PM10; 96 ug/m3 for PM2.5,which came out to be 262 for PM10 and 94 for PM2.5). The permissible levels for PM10 is 100 ug/m3 and PM 2.5 is 60 ug/m3)

The next polluted station was Shivajinagar while the lowest level of particulate matter was observed at Nigdi,Dr Gufran Beig,Programme Director of SAFAR said. According to co-researcher Neha Parkhi,the air quality was between moderate and poor. Colour codes representing good,moderate and poor air quality were displayed on LED boards under the SAFAR project at 10 monitoring stations.

Yellow represents moderate air quality while green is for good air quality and ochre is for poor air quality. According to the data collected under the SAFAR project,on November 3 and 4,on which days the majority of firecrackers were burst on the occasion of lakshmi pooja and padwa,the PM10 level at Shivajinagar was 253 ug/m3 and 157.17ug/m3 while the PM 2.5 level was 120.24 ug/m3 and 99.28ug/m3. Equally high levels of particulate pollution were recorded at Alandi,Lohegaon,Bhosari,Katraj and Manjri.

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