UP: Noida, Ghaziabad reel under bouts of air pollution as AQI crosses 500 mark

Ghaziabad: With air pollution reaching to alarming levels in Delhi's adjoining areas of Ghaziabad and Noida, more and more residents are urging the government to take emergency measures to deal with situation which is leading to breathlessness, watery eyes and fatigue among many local residents.

On Friday, the overall AQI of Noida touched 573 in the morning while in Ghaziabad also, the AQI was in the severe plus category.

Talking about the menace, Anita Nagar, a fitness coach based in Ghaziabad told ANI that children are the worst hit due to the spike in the air pollution levels.

"Children are not able to do the aggressive workout in the morning due to the growing pollutants in the air. Also, I am not able to drive properly as the visibility is low due to smog," she said.

Vikrant Tripathi of Noida also told ANI that his children were affected by air pollution and urged authorities to take necessary measures to deal with the problem, "More and more people are falling ill. My children are not able to go out. Some people residing in Noida are suffering from respiratory illness. The administration must do something."

Another resident named Ayush also narrated his ordeal and said, "We go to the park for a run every day. But we are not able to exercise rigorously due to the spike in air pollution. Also, garbage is being burnt here because of which there is a lot of smoke that causes suffocation in the wee hours."

The pollution control board and Uttar Pradesh government has issued guidelines to reduce air pollution in the region.

They have urged people to adopt clean technology in the manufacture of biogas, energy, compost, electricity, building materials (bricks, cement, tiles, plasterboards etc) and other products by recycling waste and fly ash generated from industries and other sources.

Transport drivers have been directed to properly maintain their vehicles and keep checking the carburetor and emissions from time to time.

"In place of chemical fertilizers, adopt organic fertilizers, Burmese compost, green manure, organic culture, compost, fertilizer and leguminous crops," the advisory read.