Air Quality Turns 'Poor' in Many parts of Punjab and Haryana

Chandigarh: air quality in many parts of Punjab and Haryana was recorded in 'poor' category while it was 'very poor' in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

Punjab witnessed 83 fresh farm fires, taking total count to 7,112, data showed.

Air Quality Index (AQI) in Chandigarh, joint capital of Punjab and Haryana , was recorded at 349 at 9 pm, according to Central Pollution Control Board's Sameer app, which provides hourly updates.

In Punjab, Mandi Gobindgarh recorded an AQI of 269, Patiala 245, Ludhiana 233, Jalandhar 212 and Rupnagar 200.

In Haryana, AQI was 291 in Kaithal, 272 in Jind, 267 in Panchkula, 240 in Sonipat, 236 in Bahurgarh, 217 in Kurukshetra, 205 in Gurugram and 202 in Yamunanagar.

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'.

Of fresh stubble burning incidents reported in Punjab on Tuesday, 22 were reported in Muktsar, 14 in Bathinda and nine in Patiala, according to Punjab Remote Sensing Centre data.

Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana after harvesting pdy crop in October and vember is often blamed for rise in air pollution in Delhi.

As window for sowing Rabi crop, wheat, is very short after pdy harvest, some farmers set ir fields on fire to quickly clear crop residue. 

(Except heline, this story is t edited by Republic and is published from a syndicated feed)