Air pollution in Maharashtra is a cause for concern, with three towns crossing dangerous Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels between 2011 and 2015. The towns are in the Thane district-Badlapur-Ulhasnagar and Pune belts. Seventeen of the State’s cities and towns exceeded Particulate Matter 10 (PM10) during the period. High levels of NO2 and PM10 determine air toxicity, with excess NO2 levels known to cause severe respiratory infections.
The data was provided by Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in a reply to the Lok Sabha early this month. “Based on the air quality data generated during 2011-2015, the Central Pollution Control Board has identified 94 towns, for not meeting the prescribed standards,” he said.
CPCB assessed sources of air pollution in urban areas in 2007-2010 for six cities: Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Kanpur, Mumbai and Pune. Said Dr. Sharma, “The study revealed that road dust and vehicles were the key sources of PM10 in urban areas. Biomass burning, diesel generators, construction activities, industrial activities etc. were identified as other important sources.”
The World Health Organisation states that outdoor air pollution is a major environmental health problem and estimates that in 2012, nearly 72% of outdoor air pollution-related premature deaths were due to ischaemic heart disease and strokes; 14% of deaths were due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or acute lower respiratory infections, and 14% were due to lung cancer.
Avick Sil, regional director of Environmental Policy Research Institute, said the high level of NO2 is mainly due to emissions from vehicles and industries. Towns like Badlapur and Ulhasnagar, he said, lack industrial checks. “Also, there are measures taken to control emissions from four-wheelers but heavy vehicles are largely ignored.”
Particulates come mainly from construction activity and roadside dust, “but we have absolutely no environmental management in the construction sector,” he said. Lack of constant monitoring and reporting in the public domain is a major loophole in the system.”
The State government has been in consultation with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute to device a action plan for its cities to better the air quality. Dr. Rakesh Kumar, director of NEERI, told The Hindu , “Each city has different sources of pollutants and city-specific plans need to be prepared to tackle them. We are in the process of finalising our action plan.”
Kolkata and Delhi reported high levels of NO2 along with PM10. Uttar Pradesh reported 15 of its cities and towns to have exceeded the PM10 level.
