Delhi, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh are the most “critically” polluted States in India, topping the charts with the highest annual averages of major pollutants. In all, 125 of the 240 cities surveyed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) exceeded the pollution standards
with Dombivli, Ambernath, Badlapur, Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra) and Kolkata in critical category with respect to both Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM10).
State capital cities like Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Bhopal, Jaipur, lucknow, Dehradun and Kolkata besides industrial cities like Bhilai, Faridabad, Jamshedpur, Jharia, Sindri, Indore, ludhiana, Moradabad, Rourkela, Kota, Kanpur are also placed in critical category with respect to PM10. These are the findings of the latest survey on National Ambient Air Quality and Status (2012) conducted by CPCB.
As per the report, annual average concentration of ambient air quality in residential, industrial, rural and other areas revealed that 125 cities exceeded the standard of 60 µg/m3 (annual) with respect to PM 10.
Analysis of annual average concentration of ambient air reveled Uttarakhand had maximum concentration of SO2 (26 µg/m3), Delhi showed highest NO2 (59 µg/m3) and PM10 (237 µg/m3) concentration.
The concentration of Ammonia (NH3) in five metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Nagpur — is mostly within National Ambient Air Quality Status (NAAQS). However, in Hyderabad, concentration of NH3 is mostly above NAAQS. The concentrations of Ozone (O3) and Carbon monoxide (CO) at Delhi are mostly within NAAQS.
In case of PM2.5 and with respect to Delhi the concentration observed is mostly above the NAAQS. These observations indicate that vehicular pollution is major cause of exceeding of CO and PM2.5 in Delhi. Meanwhile, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday announced inclusion of five new parameters to measure air pollution as part of the National Air Quality Index (AQI).
The objective of an AQI is to quickly disseminate air quality information almost in real-time that entails the system to account for pollutants. The initiatives undertaken by the ministry was in the wake of rising pollution in the cities, where by a new tool aims to create awareness among people about the quality of air they breathe as well as its likely health impact.
The new measurement criteria include eight parameters, in place of the earlier that was limited to three indicators. Accordingly, the proposed AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3, NH3 and Pb) for which short term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.
An initiative of CPCB, AQI has been jointly developed by an expert group comprising medical professionals, air quality experts, academia, NGOs, and state pollution control boards. IIT Kanpur, which conducted the technical study, and the expert group have recommended the AQI scheme.
Javadekar outlined the AQI, having categories with elegant colour scheme beginning from green and ending in dark red, as ‘One Number- One Colour-One Description’ for the common man to judge the air quality within his vicinity.
AQI proposes six AQI categories, namely good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor and severe and is likely to be operational initially in the country’s million plus cities by mid-December.
Noting that the formulation of the index was a continuation of the initiatives under Swachchh Bharat Mission envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Javadekar said the government would make clean air also a people’s campaign.
The Minister stressed that it would not be business as usual anymore and the government was committed to improving air quality as part of a cleanliness drive Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched earlier this month.