· Maximum vehicles ply on fifth day evening when Garuda Seva is performed

· Cause high-level concentration of smoke and SPM in and around Tirumala

TIRUPATI : The nine-day Tirumala Brahmotsavam beginning on Monday may be a treat to behold, but the pollution level one is exposed to is enormous.

Especially, on the evening of the fifth day, when Garuda Seva is performed, around 10,000 two-wheelers and innumerable buses and cars motor up the hills, witness the celestial event and return downhill in less than six hours, causing a high-level concentration of smoke and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in and around the vicinity.

A two-year study conducted by Sri Venkateswara University revealed that the release of pollutants like carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide and SPM near the major traffic islands in Tirupati had a direct bearing on the health of traffic police personnel who are occupationally exposed to it.

A professor of zoology, N.V. Nanda Kumar, and research scholar Sreedhara Babu found in their study that the percentage of respiratory disorders among traffic police exposed to automobile pollution ranged from 1 per cent in the first year to 30 per cent in the sixth year of occupational exposure.

Of the 12 most-polluted centres in Tirupati, policemen manning the Poornakumbham circle, Alipiri, railway station and Balaji Colony were found to be the worst hit.

The annual mean SPM ranged from 340 to 350 micrograms per sq. metre, while that of carbon monoxide ranged from 1290 to 2098 micrograms.

Focus on Alipiri

The study laid special focus on Alipiri tollgate, the entrance to Tirumala ghat, where thousands of vehicles vroom ahead daily and this point has been identified as a `high density pollution tunnel'. The researchers have appealed to the Police Department and the TTD to provide air filter masks to their staff to safeguard them from health complications.