Chennai’s air quality improves from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘good’
Category : Air Pollution |
Location : Tamil Nadu | Posted on 2021-08-04 23:42:34
CHENNAI: The city’s ambient air quality was ‘satisfactory’ in March this year and turned ‘good’ in April and May.
The intense lockdown, forced by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, led to a reduction in vehicular movement and a slight improvement in the air quality in Kathivakkam near Ennore, Kodungaiyur, Royapuram, Koyambedu and Perungudi, say Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) authorities. In Manali, the quality was ‘moderate’.
Of the six locations, TNPCB chairman A V Venkatachalam said, the ‘moderate’ air quality in Manali indicated breathing discomfort to people with conditions like asthma. In the remaining five places, the ‘satisfactory’ level indicated minor breathing discomfort to sensitive people.
Another official said that even during June, when there was a partial lockdown, the ambient air quality never crossed the ‘good’ and ‘satisfactory stages. But, since the lockdown was lifted in phases, the air quality went back to being ‘poor’ in many areas.
A check of the Central Pollution Control Board’s live air quality monitors in Alandur found PM2.5 levels at 83 and 82, considered ‘moderate’, at 6pm.
In Chennai, the major contributor of pollution is the emission from vehicles. When pressure from exhausts touches the soil, re-suspended dust particles, (PM2.5) from the road get into the atmosphere and increase pollution levels.
Researchers from IIT-M said re-suspended dust from roads, emission from vehicles, construction activities and generator sets are responsible for the poor air quality.
Vishvaja Sambath, an environmental health researcher with Healthy Energy Initiative, said the air quality in May was good, because of the lockdown, though not like in May 2020. But, in March, April and June this year, it was ‘satisfactory’.
The TNPCB, which collects data to arrive at an average before declaring the air quality, should collect samples of PM2.5 and PM10 levels from a residential locality, a commercial, a mixed area and an industrial area and analyse it separately to get a real picture, she said.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/chennais-air-quality-improves-from-satisfactory-to-good/articleshowprint/85058771.cms
