People take boat rides amidst migratory birds flying over the Triveni Sangam engulfed in a layer of smog, in Prayagraj
Civil Lines crossing recorded the highest reading among the commercial locations at 69.3 decibels. Chowk Ghantaghar recorded 68.2 decibels, Katra 65.9 decibels, the railway station 64.2 decibels, Teliyarganj market 62.5 decibels and Johnstonganj crossing 62.2 decibels. The prescribed daytime standard for commercial areas is 65 decibels. Teliyarganj, Johnstonganj and the railway station remained below the prescribed 65-decibel daytime standard. The monitoring at Allahabad University, categorised as a silence zone, recorded 52 decibels against the prescribed daytime limit of 50 decibels. the AQI deterioration became particularly evident on Nov 9, when the city average reached 248 and entered the ‘poor’ category,” said an official at UPPCB, Prayagraj While several city locations witnessed elevated noise levels during the evening.
The readings therefore show that Civil Lines crossing and Chowk Ghantaghar were clearly above the commercial limit, while Katra was marginally above it. Stay updated with the latest Prayagraj news. Commercial areas also witnessed varying noise levels. It was the lowest among the monitored locations but was still marginally above the applicable standard. “The contrasting readings indicate that the environmental impact of Diwali celebrations was more pronounced in terms of air quality after the festival. Download the TOI App.
Prayagraj: Though bursting of firecrackers on Diwali did not cause an overall violation of noise limits in Prayagraj, the air quality worsened sharply within 24 hours after the festival. The city’s average AQI was recorded at 148.67 on Diwali, Nov 8, compared with 171.33 on Nov 7, but rose sharply to 248 on Nov 9. The Regional Office station recorded an AQI of 143 on Nov 7, 113 on Nov 8 and 228 on Nov 9. At Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, the readings were 114, 114 and 222 respectively, while the Nagar Nigam station recorded 257, 219 and 294. The AQI report places 101-200 in the ‘moderate’ category and 201-300 in the ‘poor’ category. The sharpest post-Diwali rise was recorded at the Nagar Nigam monitoring station, where AQI increased from 219 on Nov 8 to 294 on Nov 9. At the Regional Office, the reading more than doubled from 113 to 228, while MNNIT recorded an increase from 114 to 222. The city average similarly increased by nearly 100 points, from 148.67 to 248. The noise monitoring exercise conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board between 6 pm and 10 pm on Diwali showed that the impact varied considerably according to the location. In residential areas, Mumfordganj recorded the highest noise level of 66.9 decibels against the prescribed daytime limit of 55 decibels. New Jhunsi Colony recorded 55.4 decibels, while Allapur Colony recorded 63.2 decibels.
The average air quality index (AQI) rose from moderate on Diwali to poor the next day. The three monitoring stations showed a mixed trend before and during Diwali, followed by a rise at all locations on the following day.