Air quality in 7 Odisha cities reaches ‘very poor’ category; Talcher ‘most polluted’ in India
Odisha: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) today declared the air quality in 10 urban areas across the country, including seven cities in Odisha, as ‘very poor’.
The air quality in Angul, Balasore, Baripada, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Keonjhar and Talcher in Odisha and three other cities across the country—Tirupati, Bikaner and Singrauli—was placed in the very poor category by the CPCB on Friday in its Air Quality Index (AQI).
Talcher in Odisha’s Angul district was declared the ‘most polluted’ city in India with an AQI value of 380. CPCB data showed that Angul was the second most polluted city in the country with an AQI value of 346.
The CPCB reported that the AQI value in Balasore was 318, while it was 312 in Baripada in Mayurbhanj district, 317 in Bhubaneswar in Khurda district, 324 in Cuttack, 311 in Keonjhar, 329 in Bikaner in Rajasthan, 320 in Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh and 341 in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, experts have warned that prolonged exposure to very poor quality air (air pollution) can cause respiratory diseases.
