BHUBANESWAR: As the skies of twin cities Bhubaneswar and Cuttack along with large parts of the state thundered through Sunday evening with people bursting firecrackers late into the night, the impact on air quality was immediately noticeable.
The air quality index (AQI) report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Monday revealed that the air pollution level of at least five cities and towns - Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Keonjhar, and Vyasanagar - had slipped to ‘very poor’ levels.
The AQI level of the state capital which stood in the ‘poor’ category till 4 PM on Sunday plunged to the ‘very poor’ category as the index value of particulate matter (PM) 2.5, a major pollutant emitted from smoke, jumped from 260 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3) to around 380 mg/m3 within 24 hours.
Neighbouring Cuttack also recorded a drastic fall in its air quality with the PM 2.5 level deteriorating to 355 mg/m3 by Monday morning. Till Sunday afternoon, Cuttack’s AQI was ‘poor’ with PM 2.5 value at 214 mg/m3.
Apart from the twin cities, the AQI was also very poor in Balasore, Vyasanagar, and Keonjhar with index values (PM 2.5) of 357 mg/m3, 311 mg/m3 and 302 mg/m3 respectively. On the other hand, Rourkela where the air quality was moderately polluted with an AQI level of 160 mg/m3 till Sunday 4 pm, had also deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category post Diwali celebrations.
The CPCB underlined that the AQI level of 301 to 400 considered ‘very poor’ is responsible for respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) officials admitted that the bursting of firecrackers led to severe deterioration of air quality in various cities and towns of the state.
“The pollution level was in very much control. However, the air quality deteriorated after the crackers burst at a time for a stretch of two to three hours (on Sunday evening),” said OSPCB member secretary K Murugesan. He said that PM 2.5 mostly generated from smoke will take some time to settle down.