BHUBANESWAR: Air pollution levels in the capital city of Bhubaneswar dropped drastically after Wednesday’s Diwali celebrations as the time restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court on bursting of crackers went for a toss.According to Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city recorded at several locations in the city has increased to ‘hazardous’ levels after people started bursting crackers. The AQI is calculated for four major air pollutants including ground level ozone carbon monoxide , and sulfur dioxide.At master Canteen square the AQI recorded was 54 at 10 am on Wednesday morning at Master Canteen Square. But the air quality started deteriorating rapidly and between 8 pm to 9 pm it reached 369 and at 10 pm it was 361. On Thursday 6 am it was remained as high as 329.Similarly the highest AQI recorded between 8 pm to 9 pm at major locations in the city like 343 at Infocity area, 352 at DAV, Unit-VIII area, 364 at Saheed Nagar and 353 at KIIT square.“The AQI score recorded within 0 to 50 is good, 50-100 is moderate, 100-200 is unhealthy, above 200 is very unhealthy and once it crosses 300 score it is hazardous. So from this it is easily estimated how bad the quality of Bhubaneswar air was during and after Diwali,” said noted environmentalist S N Patro.He said, the high levels of AQI suggests that the PM10 (particle matter) and PM 2.5 amount is very high in the air causing serious health hazards. “PM2.5 are very fine particles that get deep into lungs and some may even get into the bloodstream. Exposure to these particles can affect a person's lungs and heart and cause many non-communicable diseases like cancer. Coarse particles (PM10-2.5) are of less concern, although they can irritate a person's eyes, nose, and throat,” Patro added.Though the police made some crack down at people violating the time restriction but it had little impact on pollution levels.The police also failed to check noise pollution or restrict bursting of high sounding crackers, but they claimed the 10 pm deadline of bursting crackers was strictly maintained. Noise levels in the city got seriously disturbed following the explosion of ear-splitting crackers, according to sources in the Odisha State Pollution Control Board.Against the standard limit of 55 decibel (dB) in residential areas, the noise level hovered over the 85 mark in day time and nearly 95 in the night on Wednesday.

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