For first time this season, AQI turns ‘poor’ across Kolkata, worsens – Times of India

Kolkata News
KOLKATA: The air quality index (AQI) turned ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ across monitoring stations in Kolkata for the first time this season on Monday and continued to worsen, fuelled by calm wind conditions, which hampered the pollutants’ dispersal.
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Even during Kali Puja and Diwali, the city’s ambient air quality had swung back to ‘moderate’ after a steep hike.

An AQI of 201-300 is in the ‘poor’ category, while 301-400 indicates ‘very poor’ conditions.
On Monday, the city woke up to a haze, even as a smog hung low, and the air quality deteriorated as the day progressed. According to state pollution control board (WBPCB) scientists, meteorological changes caused calm wind conditions, lowering the dispersal of pollutants in the air. According to central pollution control board guidelines, ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ AQI can cause breathing discomfort on prolonged exposure.
Even as Delhi and NCR was gasping for fresh air last week, with the ambient AQI dipping from ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ (401-500) steadily, Kolkata was experiencing ‘moderate’ AQI, thanks to good flow of air. “In fact, we minutely monitored crop residue-burning in the districts and kept it under check,” said a WBPCB officer. Crop residue burning in Punjab and Haryana is often cited as one of the main causes behind the sharper spike of pollution in Delhi.
Docs: Poor AQI may lead to a surge of patients
Ballygunge station, for instance, recorded ‘poor’ AQI early in the day, but at 9am, it slid further to ‘very poor’. It continued to worsen till 1pm and marginally improved after 3pm, but remained ‘very poor’ throughout the day. The AQI in other stations also remained ‘poor’, except that of Rabindra Sarobar, which is located in the most pristine zone of the city. Bidhannagar, which showed ‘moderate’ air quality in the morning, also slid into the ‘poor’ category by 9am and since then stayed in that zone.
“This slide is ominous,” said consultant pulmonologist Arup Haldar. “If the AQI continues to remain poor, there will be a sudden surge of patients with acute breathing distress. Even after this Diwali, we did not see a sudden jump in the number of patients as the air quality remained tolerable, unlike in previous years.”
Apart from breathing distress like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the most common diseases caused by air pollution include ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and acute lower respiratory infections.
Since Kolkata’s AQI is driven by PM2.5, the tiniest particles, the danger is graver than we generally assume, said Debasis Basu, a preventive medicine expert.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/for-first-time-this-season-aqi-turns-poor-across-kolkata-worsens/articleshow/87859271.cms