Bhubaneswar: The air quality at three urban areas of Odisha was declared as ‘very poor’ by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) today.

The CPCB described the air quality at Balasore, Talcher and Baripada in Odisha as very poor in its Air Quality Index (AQI).

With an AQI value of 338, Balasore was declared as the ‘most polluted’ town in India. Talcher in Angul district is the ‘second most polluted’ town in the country with an AQI value of 320, as per the CPCB data.

The AQI value for Baripada in Mayurbhanj district was 301 on Thursday, said CPCB.

Apart from these three Odisha towns, the air quality at Haldia in West Bengal, Rupnagar in Punjab and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh was categorized as very poor by the CPCB on Thursday.

The AQI value for Haldia was 316 while it was 311 for Rupnagar and 303 for Visakhapatnam. According to the experts, prolonged exposure to very poor-quality air (air pollution) may cause respiratory illness among the people.