Hyderabad AQI Hits 277 at Sanathnagar, Rated Poor on Sameer App

Hyderabad: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB’s) ‘Sameer app’ is the official platform providing real-time air quality index (AQI) data for cities and individual stations, a senior official of the Telangana Pollution Control Board (TPCB) said.

The data is from the continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), and are available on both Android and IOS applications, The official explained that the CPCB app consolidated AQI data generated by the board and made it publicly accessible.

The app is a public domain platform, he said. This follows social media messages (not in this newspaper) that the pollution in the state matched that in Delhi.

However, the Sameer app on Monday showed high pollution and poor air quality in certain locations. The app reported an AQI of 277 at Sanathnagar at 8.05 pm, deeming it as poor. Icrisat, Patancheru, recorded 167, IDA Pashamylaram 164, and Nehru Zoological Park 163 AQI levels, according to the Sameer App.

In a press release on Monday, TGPCB said that it calculated AQI based on national ambient air quality standards, and third-party apps were calculating AQI based on Europe and USA air quality standards.

According to CPCB, AQI between 0-50 is good while 51-100 satisfactory but could cause minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people; 101-200 is moderate, causing breathing discomfort to people with lung, heart and asthmatic diseases; 201-300 is poor which causes breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure; 301-400 is very poor with respiratory illness on prolonged exposure; 401-500 as severe which affects healthy people and seriously impacts those with existing diseases.

Even though Google AQI sources the data from CPCBs website, which updates the information on their website and Sameer app simultaneously, Google’s standard was based on USA standards, the TGPCB said. According to these standards, 101-150 is deemed unhealthy for sensitive groups, while 151-20o is unhealthy, 201-300 as very unhealthy and 301-500 as hazardous.

TGPCB officials mentioned that an action plan for improving the air quality is being implemented in Hyderabad, which has caused the PM2.5 concentrations to decrease from 40 µg/m3 to 36 µg/m3 and and PM10 concentrations to fall from 97 µg/m3 to 81 µg/m3 from 2019 to 2023.