Jaipur, Oct. 23 -- The industrial hub of Bhiwadi ranked worst in the air quality index (AQI) in Rajasthan post Diwali, official figures for air pollution revealed, causing the administration to step up pollution control measures on Wednesday. Following Diwali celebrations, Rajasthan's AQI figures sharply deteriorated with 23 cities recording "poor" AQI levels due to heavy firecracker use and stagnant weather conditions. Bhiwadi reported the worst air quality in the state, followed by Sriganganagar, Hanumangarh, Kota, and Jaipur. According to the data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), AQI in Bhiwadi was 364 on Tuesday which came down to only 323 on Wednesday, still 'very poor'. Meanwhile, the corresponding figure for Sriganganagar and Hanumangarh had been 285 and 274 respectively on Tuesday, a day after the Diwali festivities, which went up to 300 and 296 on Wednesday. The AQI was also very poor in Ajmer, Dholpur, Dungarpur, Kota, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jalore. "The AQI, this year after Diwali, was 8%-10% worse than the previous year. The degradation of the air quality post Diwali is majorly because of the early dip in temperature in the state ahead of winter, stagnant air movement, and western disturbance this year. The Bhiwadi industrial hub, which is also a part of the NCR region, is also getting affected by the air pollution of Delhi following which GRAP II norms has been enacted here," said Sharda Prasad Singh, the member secretary of RSPCB. He also said, "The department has also taken a meeting with the RIICO, Transport, and Agriculture departments to ensure proper implementation of the GRAP II." Meanwhile, another official from the department also said that "the department is regularly monitoring the AQI situation from their stations which also revealed that the degradation, in many prime cities, is being caused by road construction work close to the monitoring centres. However, road dust and vehicular emissions are always the big reasons for air pollution in the cities in Rajasthan." In 2019, five cities of Rajasthan including the state capital Jaipur were identified as non-attainment cities categorised on the basis of exceeding Particulate Matter (PM10) levels by the MoEF & CC for the national clean air programme in 2019. Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Kota come under Million Plus cities and Udaipur and Alwar come under NCAP cities. "With an objective to reduce 20-30% PM10 concentration by 2024, the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) has taken a series of measures such as setting up continuous air quality monitoring stations, construction and demolition (C&D) waste collection centres, conducting an air quality assessment study collaborating with premium institutes of the state, and notifying a sound e-vehicle policy," said another official. "Around 6 water sprinklers were also installed in each city to suppress road dust 90 KM per day. Total 11 waste collection centres with 300 TPD capacities are operational in Jaipur city. Additionally, 4 waste collection centres with capacity of 25 TPD each with one waste processing facility of 300 TPD capacity were also established in 2023-24 FY," said the second RSPCB officer....