As residents celebrated Deepavali with enthusiasm and fervour, air pollution levels in the city crossed permissible limits on Saturday. Sowcarpet and Nungambakkam recorded 178 micrograms/cubic metre of dust particles of 10 micron or less size (PM10) in the ambient air.
According to data provided by the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB), Triplicane came third with 177 microgram/cu.m. of total suspended particulate matter.
Residents of T. Nagar and Besant Nagar breathed better quality air on Deepavali with the localities recording 113 microgram/cu.m. and 102 microgram/cu.m. respectively. The permissible limits according to the National Ambient Air Quality standards for PM10 particles is 100 microgram/cu.m. in a 24-hour period.
These figures are considerably less than what was recorded in 2014. “Last year’s figures were not taken into consideration due to heavy rain,” said sources in the TNPCB. In 2014, Triplicane witnessed 297 microgram/cu.m., Sowcarpet 196 microgram/cu.m. and T. Nagar and Nungambakkam 180 microgram/cu.m.
Residents of streets around Sri Parthasarathy Temple are known to have burst quantities of crackers.
M. Sudarshan, a resident of Triplicane, said that the morning of Deepavali was quieter than usual — something that was true of other areas including T. Nagar, Thoraipakkam and Velachery. However, the evening began on a livelier note with colourful fireworks lighting up the sky. “Even though I finished bursting my quota of crackers, the sky was lit up with fireworks and with lots of noise. The fun went on till as late as 2 a.m.,” he said.
In the run up to Deepavali, the Federation of Madras Merchants and Manufacturers Association had cleaned up 78 streets in the locality and collected 58 tonnes of garbage. Ranjit Jain, joint secretary of the association, said in the past too smaller efforts to clean up before the festival were taken up. “This year, we plan to do a post-deepavali clean-up in the weekend,” he said. In Triplicane too volunteers swept cracker waste after the celebrations
However on Sunday evening, noise pollution levels at Sowcarpet went up to 101.4 dB(A) at 5.20 p.m. as the large north-Indian and Telugu-speaking population celebrated the festival. On Saturday this was only 80 dB(A). “Residents held Lakshmi pujas and celebrated the festival with grandiose,” said Sunanda Jain, a resident.
In Triplicane, the noise level remained 88 dB (A) on both days. TNPCB recorded air and noise pollution levels at five locations on the day before the festival and on Deepavali for a period of 24 hours.
Residents and activists have been demanding that more locations be included.
