Agra: Even as neighbouring Delhi is reeling under severe smog conditions, air quality in Agra hit “hazardous” levels on Thursday morning with PM 2.5 levels rising to 467 and 73 notches above Tuesday’s record of 355 (very poor). According to the World Health Organisation’s guidelines, 25 is the maximum level of PM 2.5 – the smallest particulates that cause damage to health – that anyone can be safely exposed to over a 24-hour period. The smiles in the faces of UP environment officials, who had earlier claimed that their combined efforts have led to better air quality in the past week vis-à-vis the previous year, were short lived. The acrid air has cloaked Agra, barely 200 odd kilometres from Delhi, at an alarming pace in the past 36 hours. According to real time air quality index (AQI) monitored by the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), the readings recorded at Sanjay Place on Thursday morning were PM 2.5 (467), NO2 (38), SO2 (7) and CO (19). The permissible limit for PM 2.5 in India is 60 microgram per cubic meter. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in-charge in Agra, Kamal Kumar said that dust from construction sites coupled with trapped pollutants in the atmosphere were the main reasons for variations in PM 2.5 levels. He also said that continuous constructions in the national highways have led to dust and pollution getting trapped by the cooler winter air near the ground. Atulesh Yadav, regional officer, UPPCB, said the situation is likely to continue till January. He also added that the department will keep making efforts and will issue notices to all those who are found violating environmental norms. Experts have also blamed paddy burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana to have bolstered the conditions. It is to be noted that polluting industries are barred in the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400 square km eco-sensitive area around the Taj Mahal to protect the monument. The TTZ comprises about 40 protected monuments, including three world heritage sites – the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. On Wednesday, divisional Commissioner, Agra region, K Rammohan Rao had issued orders to spray water on road sides in the city. According to medical journal ‘The Lancet’, over a million Indians die every year due to air pollution and some of the most polluted cities of the world are in India. The study, which was released this year, states that causes of air pollution and climate change are intricately linked and needs to be tackled together. J N Tandor, pediatrician and former president of the Indian Medical Association in Agra, said that air pollution continues to take toll on the health of everyone, especially pregnant women, children and the elderly.