GHAZIABAD: Long before the IQAir AirVisual-Greenpeace study came up with its report ranking Ghaziabad as the second-most polluted city in the world, the NCR's industrial hub hogged media headlines for having the worst air quality in the country on at least two occasions - in November 2017 and October 2018.Experts say industries vehicles and construction sites are the biggest contributors to coarse pollutants in Ghaziabad - which is otherwise doing reasonably well on other civic parameters - and enforcement mechanism needs to be overhauled to achieve desired results."While the district administration and the pollution control department claim that effective steps like closing down of polluting industries and imposition of fines are being taken on a regular basis, there are hundreds of illegal polluting industries operating out of the district. And something has to be done to shut them down," said Sushil Raghav, a city-based environmentalist.According to experts, the increasing number of vehicles in the past three decades has further aggravated the problem.Moreover, there are rampant construction activities going on in Ghaziabad, flouting NGT norms. "Construction waste and dust release pollutants, including PM2.5, in the air, taking a toll on the city's air quality. Despite their best efforts, authorities have not been able to clamp down on erring developers," said Raghav.As compared with Ghaziabad, neighbouring Noida figured lower on the PM2.5 parameter and was ranked as the sixth-most polluted city. "GRAP was implemented in Noida for most parts of last year. While PM10 levels are on a rise, PM 2.5 is rising because of increasing vehicular pressure and population density," an UPPCB official said.

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