Chandigarh, Oct 21
After Diwali, the air quality in most parts of Punjab and Haryana dropped to the 'severe' and 'hazardous' categories on Tuesday.
According to AQI.in, a platform monitoring air quality index (AQI), Chandigarh recorded "poor" air quality at 146. 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 209 in Ludhiana, 225 in Amritsar, 198 in Jalandhar, 242 in Bathinda and 233 in Patiala. In another agrarian state, the AQI in Faridabad was 247 and 343 in Sonipat, 201 in Karnal, 328 in Bhiwani, 247 in Jind and 279 in Charkhi Dadri. Both Punjab and Haryana have been blamed for the rise in air pollution levels owing to farm fires.
However, this year both Punjab and Haryana recorded much fewer farm fires compared to the previous years. Punjab reported 45 incidents of stubble burning on Monday, a slight decrease from the record 67 farm fires reported on October 19, the highest so far this season.