Chennai air quality: Relentless fireworks leave city gasping during Deepavali

CHENNAI: Despite efforts to promote green crackers and enforce time restrictions on firecracker usage, the city’s air quality deteriorated to hazardous levels during the Deepavali celebrations, with residents continuing to set off fireworks throughout the day.

According to real-time air quality monitoring data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), most continuous air quality monitoring stations in the city recorded Air Quality Index (AQI) levels categorised as “poor,” while others fell into the “moderate” category during the Deepavali festivities.

At 10 pm on Thursday, four out of seven monitoring stations reported AQI levels between 231 and 277, which falls under the “poor” category. The Perungudi station recorded the highest level at 277, followed closely by the Alandur Bus Depot, at 259. The Manali, Royapuram, and Kodungaiyur stations recorded AQI levels ranging from 147 to 176, categorising them as “moderate.”

According to the National Air Monitoring Programme’s AQI scale, air quality is categorised as follows: 0 to 50 is ‘good,’ 51 to 100 is ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 is ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 is ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 is ‘very poor,’ and 401 to 450 is ‘severe.’

In the “poor” category, most people may experience breathing discomfort with prolonged exposure. The “moderate” air quality can cause breathing issues for individuals with lung diseases, asthma, and heart conditions, according to health guidelines for AQI categories.

In a statement, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said it has conducted a manual monitoring survey for ambient air quality and noise monitoring survey in Chennai and 16 major districts, including Coimbatore and Madurai, in a total of 39 locations since October 24. Of the seven locations in Chennai, it said, the highest level of 287 AQI was reported at Valasarawakkam, while the lowest was 150 AQI, in Tiruvottiyur.

“On Deepavali day, the Noise Monitoring Survey was conducted from 6 pm to 12 am, and the lowest noise level value was observed at Besant Nagar, at 59.8 dB (A), and the highest noise level was observed at Nungambakkam, at 78.7 dB(A),” it said. At 91.5 dB(A), Hosur recorded the highest noise level in the state.

Despite the TNPCB’s directive to burst crackers only from 6 am to 7 am and from 7 pm to 8 pm on Deepavali, many residents began the fireworks as early as Wednesday, leaving a thick layer of smog over the city. The air quality further plummeted on the day of festivities on Thursday.

The day after the celebrations, the city’s air quality remained poor. According to AQI data from Friday morning, three out of seven monitoring stations — Perungudi, Alandur, and Velachery — continued to report “poor” AQI levels.