WHO report is not correct, says state govt

Chandigarh: The Haryana Pollution Control Board has turned aside the recent report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in which Faridabad is among the top three polluted cities in the world.

The latest WHO ranking of cities based on ambient air quality released on May 2 lists eight Indian cities as the top most polluted cities in the world.

Haryana environment and climate change minister Vipul Goel on Friday  said the source of the data on which the report was based was not clear.

“The Haryana Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) has been monitoring the data since 2010 through continuous air ambient quality monitoring station in Faridabad and Gurgaon. As per the details available with the board, the PM 2.5 value of  both the cities are being monitored regularly since 2013,” he said.

These values increase above 170 only during a brief season, that is during a few days around Diwali, crop harvesting season during which residue burning is reported and peak winter, when the temperature is low and wind velocity is minimum, he said.

Therefore, it is not justified to claim that the average PM 2.5 value is above 170 in Faridabad, he said, adding the city is affected mostly due to the pollution in neighbouring Delhi.

Its own sources include mainly vehicles and construction dust and Delhi’s pollution is considerably high with additional sources from municipal solid waste burning going on almost continuously as witnessed during the past years, he said.

The minister said that Delhi’s pollution level has always remained higher than these two cities.

“Now, placing Faridabad above Delhi is not even logical,” he added. He said that Haryana has already prepared a detailed action plan to combat air pollution in the entire state.

Diesel vehicles of more than 10 years age have already been banned from registration in Faridabad, Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts of Haryana, he added.