Patna: Air quality of altogether 10 cities of the state, including Patna, fell into the “poor” category on Friday, while the number of such cities was 13 a day before, as per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)’s daily air quality index (AQI) bulletin.
With AQI 312, Hajipur’s ambient air was in the “very poor” category on Friday, worsening from the “poor” (298) on Thursday. However, Biharsharif’s air quality improved to “poor” (AQI: 261) on Friday from “very poor” (348) on Thursday.
Particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was the prominent pollutant in all the cities, while PM 10, in addition to PM 2.5, worsened the situation in Patna, said the CPCB report. AQI of Ara and Darbhanga could not be evaluated on Friday due to unavailability of data.
Several factors are causing the air quality to worsen in the state after the onset of winter. Wind—both heavy or dense cold—are making the air unfavourable for citizens. Denser cold air, which moves at a slow pace in comparison to warm air, holds the impurities or pollutants and makes them remain suspended in the same place for longer duration which is breathed by humans.
According to per health experts and pulmonologists, children below 10 years of age, senior citizens and those with existing lungs, asthma and heart ailments, are vulnerable to breathing problems because of the polluted air.
As per the CPCB website, AQI falling in the “poor” category (201-300) can lead to breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure, while “very poor” range (301-400) of ambient air can cause respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. And even “moderate” AQI (101-200) has the potential to result in breathing discomfort to people with lungs, asthma and heart ailments. The most critical range of “severe” (401-500) AQI can affect even healthy people and seriously impact those with existing morbidities.
Meanwhile, Patna and Bhagalpur witnessed moderate dense fog, while the rest of the places in the region had light to moderate mist in the morning.
Patna weather office on Friday predicted that light to moderate fog will cover the majority of the places in the morning for the next three days. “However, no significant change is expected in the night temperature for the next five days,” added the Met office.