Not Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru- find out this Indian city with alarming poor air quality

Air quality in Gurugram deteriorated to ‘very poor’, almost similar to the air quality of wildfire zones in the United States. According to the report by the Central Pollution Control Board, the AQI of Gurugram was recorded at 333 on June 20, compared to the satisfactory AQI of 89 in Delhi. AQI>300 is considered to be hazardous. The Millennium City witnessed one of the worst air quality levels in June.

Reasons behind the spike

Most environmental officials and the CPCB point to anthropogenic (human-made) and meteorological factors as contributing to the hazardous AQI in Gurugram. According to SAFAR data, the city recorded a dangerous amount of ozone concentration, 507 micrograms per cubic meter. Ozone forms when pollutants like nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react under intense sunlight. The primary purpose could be vehicular emissions major source of PM2.5 and Nitrogen dioxide, which were recorded at 133 micrograms per cubic meter, nearly three times the safe limit. Other anthropogenic activities, like dust and construction activities, contributed to the poor AQI.

However, it is to be noted that these data vary according to the source. According to AQI.in, the AQI on June 19 was 112, and a maximum recorded AQI was 152 on June 14. This data collection depends on the location from which it is collected, depending on where the data is pulled from, whether a highway or a residential neighbourhood, these seem to vary.