According to a study, close to half of urban population breathes air which exceeds the standard of PM10. Similarly, 10 per cent of urban population breathes air which exceeds the standard of NO2.
The Silk City seems to be not an exception. The number of vehicles on road in Brahmapur during last five years has increased manifolds. According to an estimate, commuters breathe far more harmful particles inside vehicles while travelling compared to the ambient concentration. The PM2.5 concentrations inside vehicles can be 1.5 times higher than the surrounding background air and ultra fine levels at about 8.5 times higher, say experts.
The vehicular traffic coupled with rash and reckless driving even in peak period every day has made the life of commuters miserable here. The traffic norms are thrown to wind, while public mostly remain unaware of the degradation of the atmosphere. To rub salt into the wound, the police remain mute spectators. Even heavy vehicles are allowed to ply in residential zones and narrow roads, spreading huge dust on each and every house in the locality and even keeping the senior citizens and ailing old men and women in suffocation.
Most of the businessmen here make use of the public road as their parking space in a daredevil manner reportedly under the tacit knowledge of the local police. For instance, an iron merchant in Dr Powell Street has made the BMC drain and the road as the parking space for heavy iron loaded vehicles causing the local denizens to suffer from unbearable mental trauma and suffocation.
The locals had lodged complaints with the appropriate authorities several times in the past, but in vain, said social activist Kumud Prasad Acharya.
Similarly, noise pollution poses a serious threat to the peaceful environment and public tranquility in the Silk City which is known as commercial and education hub of south Odisha. Use of legally prohibited horns in the vehicles, use of unauthorized loud speakers, tape recorders and high voltage sound systems in the vehicles, hotels, commercial complexes are producing unbearable sound. The mushroom growth of residential apartments within the territorial ambience of the BMC contributes substantially to the environmental pollution in the city.
Dumping of construction materials such as stone, bricks and sands on the public road not only causes the traffic problem, but also mercilessly sprinkles dust in the air. This results in the houses, walls and trees of the city profusely shrouded in dusts causing serious heart diseases and posing a serious threat to the asthma patients. Huge dumps of debris are piled up in several vacant spaces of the city which are not lifted on regular basis by the BMC and the owners for years causing serious health hazards. In Panabika Street, Gandhinagar 3rd line (in front of the office of local MP) and several such places of the city, such instances are galore.
In addition to these pollutant agents, about 120 stone crushers, 73 cashew nut factories and around 20 brick kilns are operating in Ganjam district contributing to pollution in the area.