Air quality in 18 Haryana cities very poor to poor

KARNAL: The air quality index (AQI) of Haryana’s 18 cities and towns remained ‘very poor’ to poor category on Thursday.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s environment app ‘Sameer’, in Kurukshetra, the AQI was recorded at 399— highest in the state and only two notches below the severe category.

It was followed by GT belt districts including Kaithal (395), Panipat (384), Karnal (369), Sonipat (365), and Ambala (336).

The air quality was in the poor category in Fatehabad (299), Yamunanagar (296), Jind (293), Faridabad (292), Hisar (252), Dharuhera (243), Gurugram (237), Manesar (236), Rohtak (223), Bahadurgarh (221), Panchkula (210), and Bhiwani (209).

The AQI was a 24-hour average calculated from 4pm on Wednesday to 4pm on Thursday.

Doctors have advised people, especially the elderly and children, to care for themselves as they are more vulnerable to smog-induced diseases.

Haryana registered 35 incidents of stubble burning across the state on Thursday, taking the overall count this season to 2728. Kaithal district witnessed the highest stubble burning cases with 621 incidents and Fatehabad is in the second position with 573 incidents.