The Air Quality Index (AQI) across various areas in Haryana and Punjab continued to fall within the 'poor' category on Saturday, with some cities seeing only marginal improvements after the Diwali spike in pollution.
The Sameer app, managed by the Central Pollution Control Board and providing hourly AQI updates, reported that Chandigarh — the shared capital of Haryana and Punjab — recorded an AQI in the 'poor' category, though showing slight improvement from the previous day.
In Haryana, the AQI in locations such as Gurugram, Jind, Ambala, and Kurukshetra showed some progress, shifting from 'very poor' to 'poor' levels on Saturday morning.
At 9 am, Gurugram recorded an AQI of 212, Jind 285, Ambala 224, and Kurukshetra 262. These readings marked a drop from Friday's respective figures of 344, 340, 308, and 304, when post-Diwali pollution had peaked.
Additional AQI readings across Haryana included 218 in Bahadurgarh, 224 in Bhiwani, 229 in Charkhi Dadri, 224 in Fatehabad, 204 in Hisar, 277 in Karnal, 251 in Sirsa, and 243 in Yamunanagar. Notably, Sonipat’s AQI remained 'very poor', registering at 324.
Under the national Air Quality Index system, AQI levels between zero and 50 are classified as 'good', 51 to 100 as 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 as 'moderate', 201 to 300 as 'poor', 301 to 400 as 'very poor', and 401 to 450 as 'severe'.
Readings above 450 fall into the 'severe plus' category.
Chandigarh’s AQI, too, saw improvement, dipping to 289 from Friday’s reading of 303.
The air quality in Punjab showed mixed results, with Amritsar’s AQI deteriorating to 346, moving further into the 'very poor' range from 314 on Friday morning.
However, there was some relief for Mandi Gobindgarh, where the AQI improved to 206, a substantial drop from the previous 331.
Other cities reported AQI levels as follows: Jalandhar at 239, Khanna 206, Ludhiana 291, and Patiala 231.
Meanwhile, Punjab recorded a sharp rise in stubble burning on Friday, with the state witnessing 587 cases, the highest daily count of the season.
Crop residue burning has remained a significant contributor to the worsening air quality in the state, compounding the effects of festival pollution.
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