Noida recorded an Air Quality Index of 201 on Wednesday, while Greater Noida reached 235. Both areas stayed in the ‘poor’ category for the second day. Vikas Mishra said, “Inspections are being conducted continuously.” Authorities also started fining people for dumping garbage in the open to help control the pollution.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Noida recorded an Air Quality Index of 201 (poor) on Wednesday, down from 238 on Tuesday. Similarly, the AQI in Greater Noida was 235, up from 224 on Tuesday.
The spike follows a spell of relatively cleaner air. The AQI in Greater Noida stood at 109 on October 10 and 107 on October 11 before falling to 86 on October 12. It then surged to 235 on October 13. Noida’s AQI followed a similar pattern, dropping to 110 on October 10 and 109 on October 11 before falling to 74 on October 12 and rising to 238 the following day.
To be sure, the Noida region also received showers on Sunday night and Monday morning and recorded high wind speeds, which also improve air quality.
The citywide figures also mask variations between monitoring locations. On Wednesday, Greater Noida’s Sector Knowledge Park III station recorded an AQI of 219, while Knowledge Park V registered 229. In Noida, Sector 125 recorded the highest AQI at 271, followed by 229 in Sector 62, 172 in Sector 116, and 132 in Sector 1.
According to the CPCB’s classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered “good”, 51-100 “satisfactory”, 101-200 “moderate”, 201-300 “poor”, 301-400 “very poor” and 401-500 “severe”.
Vikas Mishra, regional officer of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) in Greater Noida, said the board was carrying out inspections to identify violations and initiate action. “Inspections are being conducted continuously. Wherever irregularities are found, the process of imposing penalties is being initiated through our head office,” Mishra said.
He added that the board sends notices to the concerned authority when corrective action falls within its jurisdiction.
Asked about enforcement against builders and repeat violators, Mishra maintained that pollution-control measures have been effective over the years despite a steady increase in the number of vehicles. He said the situation was better than it had been five to seven years ago.
Separately, the Greater Noida authority has begun penalising people for dumping garbage in the open. Authority officials fined violators ₹500 in Sector Alpha 1 on Tuesday and warned that repeat violations could attract fines of up to ₹10,000. The authority has also directed officials to identify violators by checking waste and other identifying material, as well as by taking photographs and videos.