Panaji: Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has deployed a mobile air quality monitoring vehicle in Panaji to verify a sharp post-Diwali rise in pollution, with results expected within 48 hours.GSPCB chairperson Pradip Sarmokadam said the board decided to conduct the assessment after TOI reported elevated pollution levels and the readings available on an online air quality monitoring platform came to its notice.“We have deployed a mobile monitoring vehicle to the city to verify the reported deterioration in air quality. It is possible that it is due to crackers and other activities during Diwali, but we will have to verify it. The board has instructed the team to undertake the necessary monitoring,” he told TOI.Sarmokadam, however, added that numbers had fallen on Nov 10. “Today, PM2.5 levels have come down to 64 µg/m³, while PM10 stands at 96 µg/m³, both within permissible limits. We have installed an online monitoring system in Panaji, which will record air quality continuously for 24 hours. Monitoring will continue for another 24 hours tomorrow,” Sarmokadam said.TOI had reported on Tuesday that Panaji’s air quality index (AQI) climbed to 133 on Nov 8, placing it in the ‘poor’ category. The situation worsened the following day, with the AQI rising to 155, classified as ‘unhealthy’, according to the online monitoring platform AQI.in.The Nov 9 reading showed PM2.5 levels at 61 micrograms per cubic metre and PM10 at 86 micrograms per cubic metre, while the platform also flagged smoky haze over the city.The spike follows a gradual deterioration in Panaji’s Diwali air quality over the years. According to AQI.in, the city’s AQI stood at 16 during Diwali in 2020, rising to 60 in 2021 and 114 in 2022. It subsequently recorded 98 in 2023, 94 in 2024 and 87 in 2025, before climbing to 133 on Nov 8 this year.GSPCB’s manual monitoring will help establish the extent of the post-Diwali pollution spike and determine whether further intervention is required.In Goa, Narkasur effigies are traditionally erected through the night on Naraka Chaturdashi and burnt at dawn on the day preceding the main Diwali celebrations. This year, the effigies were burnt at dawn on Nov 8, with the main Diwali celebrations taking place soon after.
