Chandigarh, Nov 13
The air quality in several parts of Punjab and Haryana was on Wednesday recorded in the ‘poor’ category, while it continued to be the worst in Chandigarh, the joint capital of both states that is located in the foothills of the Shivalik hills.
According to Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer App, Chandigarh with an AQI of 375 falls in the “very poor” category.
The air quality of Chandigarh that boasts of the third-highest tree cover in India was worse than Punjab’s prominent industrial city Ludhiana at 212.
An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', 401 and 450 'severe' and above 450 'severe plus'.
In Punjab, the AQI was registered at 303 in Mandi Gobindgarh, 265 in Amritsar, 190 in Rupnagar, 233 in Jalandhar, 148 in Bathinda and 260 in Patiala.
In another agrarian state, the AQI in Faridabad was 230 and 318 in Sonipat, 222 in Karnal, 342 in Bhiwani, 312 in Jind, 321 in Charkhi Dadri and 277 in Gurugram.
Both Punjab and Haryana have been blamed for the rise in air pollution levels owing to farm fires.
While the air quality in various cities in Punjab and Haryana has been hovering in the ‘poor’ category, Chandigarh stands out in the region for its alarmingly ‘very poor’ AQI for the past four days.