Morning Bhogi smog puts city at most polluted on global scale

According to Air Quality Index readings on the morning of January 14, Chennai topped the world ranking of having the most polluted air. At one point, on Tuesday, the PM 2.5 of Manali touched 795 microgram/m3 while US Consulate touched 722 microgram/m3.

Other residential areas in the city, which remained unhealthy in the morning, included Alandur, which recorded 161 microgram/m3 followed by IIT-Madras (119 microgram/m3) and Velachery (100 microgram/m3). However, later in the evening, the air quality improved considerably and PM 2.5 in Manali dropped to 117 microgram/m3 while Chennai US consulate also recorded a similar drop of 117 microgram/m3. But at Velachery, the air quality worsened marginally from 100 microgram/m3 in the morning to 119 microgram/m3 in the evening.

In November 2019, Manali was rated as a highly polluted area where PM 2.5 reached above 300 microgram/m3. This was considered the highest last year owing to industry pollution and Deepavali. However, it reduced to 60 microgram/m3 within a week.