With a view to checking increasing pollution in Ludhiana, the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) undertook a study to find out the air pollution level on account of plying of vehicles.

Talking to mediapersons at the PPCB Patiala headquarters, Board chairman KS Pannu said ambient air samples from the five most congested areas of the city were taken to study the vehicular pollution levels.

"The ambient air quality samples were collected from Bus Stand, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Jagraon Bridge, Samrala Chowk and Dholewal Chowk for a duration of 24 hours", Pannu said.

Giving details, he said at the Bus Stand monitoring point, the particulate matter was as high as 296 µgm/m3 during day time and 95 µgm/m3 during night hours (2 am to 8 am). "Thorough study brought to light that when there is no traffic, the ambient air quality was much better and within the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 100 µgm/m3", he added.

Board chairman further said the maximum level of particulate matter at Jagraon Bridge, Bharat Nagar Chowk, Samrala Chowk and Dholewal Chowk were 348 µgm/m3, 276 µgm/m3, 319 µgm/m3 and 280 µgm/m3, respectively, while the minimum levels were 194 µgm/m3, 190 µgm/m3, 210 µgm/m3 and 188 µgm/m3, respectively, during the time when there is very less traffic.

He said traffic congestion in Ludhiana city was leading to the rise of ambient air pollutants and the study conducted by the PPCB has established these facts. "To reduce the contribution of vehicular pollution, traffic from the main GT Road is required to be diverted through bypass on Sidhwan Canal to various destinations, which would reduce the traffic load on the city", he said.

Pannu said the vehicles which are more than 15-year-old and have already outlived their lives are required to be taken off the roads to improve the ambient air quality of the city. He added, "Strict measures are required to be taken to check the emission levels of other vehicles by improving the system of certification by Pollution Under Check (PUC) centres. The board will write to authorities concerned for taking necessary action in this regard", he said.