There was marked decrease in some aspects of air pollution levels in few localities of Dehradun during the Diwali celebration this year as compared to the previous year.
last years, the Uttarakhand Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board (UEPPCB) had set up its mechanism to measure various aspects of air pollution in different localities of the provisional state capital on the occasion of Dewali.
The UEPPCB measured the Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (Nox) at the Clock Tower, Raipur Road and Nehru Colony areas of Dehradun.
According to the data collected by the UEPPCB the level of RSPM measured at the Clock Tower and Nehru Colony area this year on Diwali is considerably less than the RSPM level measured on the same night in the previous year.
The RSPM level measured this year was 166.17 at Clock Tower compared to 240 in the previous year whereas the RSPM at Nehru Colony this year was 273.44 comapred to 369.9 measured here on the night of the festival in the previous year.
In the Raipur Road area the RSPM content this year was measured at 267.78 compared to 253.12 measured in the previous year.
Measurements of other parameters of air pollution also saw some fluctuation this year as compared to the previous year. UEPPCB data states that the level of SO2 on Diwali night this year was 24.18, 26.29 and 26.14 at Clock Tower, Raipur Road and Nehru Colony respectively.
The level of SO2 on Deepawali night during the previosus year was 26.51, 26.91 and 28.29 in Clock Tower, Raipur Road and Nehru Colony respectively. Similarly, the level of Nox on Deepawali this year was 27.79, 29.33 and 28.26 at Clock Tower, Raipur Road and Nehru Colony respectively whereas the level of the same on Deepawali night during the previous year was 29.45, 30.23 and 31.01 at Clock Tower, Raipur Road and Nehru Colony respectively.