Air quality across Noida and neighbouring Greater Noida remained in the ‘severe’ category on Sunday morning, with Air Quality Index (AQI) levels touching critical highs at several monitoring stations.
A day after recording the worst AQI in the country at 455 on Saturday, Noida’s air quality further deteriorated on Sunday. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at 8 am, the AQI at Noida’s Sector 116 station reached the upper limit of 499. Other areas also reported hazardous levels, with Sector 125 recording 456, Sector 62 at 432, and Sector 1 at 488.
Similar pollution levels were reported in Greater Noida, where the AQI stood at 405 at Knowledge Park 3 and 478 at Knowledge Park 5. Large parts of Gautam Buddha Nagar district woke up to dense smog, severely reducing visibility.
On Saturday morning, poor visibility caused by smog led to a multi-vehicle pile-up involving at least 15 vehicles on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Greater Noida around 8.30 am. No fatalities were reported, and traffic movement was restored within two hours.
Air quality in Ghaziabad also remained critical on Sunday morning. As of 8 am, AQI readings were recorded at 476 in Indirapuram, 419 in Sanjay Nagar, and 482 in Vasundhara.
With pollution levels worsening across Delhi and surrounding regions, authorities on Saturday implemented Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), triggering the strictest set of anti-pollution measures across Delhi-NCR.