Bhubaneswar: The air quality in 15 urban areas across the country, including two in Odisha, was declared as ‘very poor’ by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) today.

The air quality in Angul and Balasore in Odisha and 13 other towns—Baddi, Delhi, Dharuhera, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gummidipoondi, Gurugram, Jind, Karnal, Noida, Panchkula, Rohtak and Singrauli—across the country was categorized as very poor by the CPCB in its Air Quality Index (AQI).

The AQI value for Angul was 318 and the same was 333 for Balasore, 334 for Baddi, 337 for Delhi, 326 for Dharuhera, 364 for Ghaziabad, 329 for Greater Noida, 316 for Gummidipoondi, 326 for Gurugram, 322 for Jind, 302 for Karnal, 327 for Noida, 339 for Panchkula, 337 for Rohtak and 341 for Singrauli on Sunday, said the CPCB.  

Prolonged exposure to very poor quality air may cause respiratory illness among the people, experts said.