Pollution down this Deepavali

PCB sets up 20 stations for 24 hours

Compared to last year, the city appears to have celebrated Diwali festivities in the form of bursting crackers on a more subdued note this time.

The ambient air quality monitoring taken up during the festival season by the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) shows a fall in particulate matter, gaseous parameters and noise levels on this festival day as compared to last.

However, as far as the pre-Diwali and Diwali day data was concerned, the monitoring showed a considerable rise on the latter day.

The PCB initiative was held at 20 stations across the city on October 19 (pre-Diwali) and October 26 (Diwali) for a period of 24 hours.

When compared with pre-Diwali, the Respirable Particulate Matter (RPM) values on the festival day increased by 39 per cent in the industrial, residential, rural and other areas with the sensitive area recording at zoo jumping by 35 per cent.

Rains

Interestingly, the gaseous values monitored for Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) were found to be less on Diwali day when checked against the pre-Diwali. According to PCB, the reason could be rains on the day before the festival which could have made the pollutants to dilute.

The data also pointed out at a significant increase in noise levels in the commercial and industrial zones while the rise was marginal in residential and silence zones. Yet, the levels exceeded the prescribed standards in all the zones.

While there was a drastic decrease in noise values in silence zone when compared to previous year, in the industrial, residential and commercial zones, a slight decrease was registered.