Bhubaneswar, Jan 8: At least six towns in Odisha registered an Air Quality Index (AQI) of more than 300 at 4pm on January 7 while the AQI in Balasore was recorded 334, third worse in the country, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The AQI in Balasore was worse than Delhi's 333.
Similarly, Cuttack had an AQI of 320, Bhubaneswar had 311, Baripada had 316, Keonjhar had 314 and Rairangpur 308 on Sunday afternoon.
The AQI in Lingaraj Temple area in the capital city was reported 324 and Patia 309 at night 11 pm yesterday, according to online monitoring record. In Cuttack's CDA area the AQI was 336.
On the other hand, Angul had an AQI value of 300 and Talcher 251.
Air pollution in Odisha is in bad shape due to factors such as heavy vehicular movement,rapid industrialization, felling of trees and construction work.
Notably, an AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality and an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality.
Bihar's Bhagalpur reported the worst 382 AQI.
