Pollution Unabated; Vizagites Suffer as Officials, Environmentalists Clash

The New Indian Express , Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Correspondent :
Vizag has become synonymous with industrial growth, and also with industrial pollution. While there are conflicting reports by the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) officials and the environmentalists on air pollution levels, people continue to suffer due to high pollution levels which are more than double compared to the standard levels.

The Port City receives major pollution due to coal and iron ore dust handled in the port apart from effluents released from industries ranging from pharma companies to zinc, and fertilisers to steel and other manufacturing industries.

Gnanapuram, Police Barracks area and Port locations are some of the areas which are highly polluted recording the highest RSPM (Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter) levels. The industry majors along with the APPCB officials claim that the pollution levels have come down in the past three years.

According to the officials, the RSPM levels, ranged between 25 and 200 micrograms per cubic metre in 2010, came down to the 50-190 range in 2011 and to 34.5-104.3 range in 2012. The APPCB officials claim that the RSPM levels have come further down ranging between 30-100 micrograms per cubic metre as in October 2013. However, they did not release the final statistics for this year.

The APPCB officials point out that the removal of Visakhapatnam from the list of ‘Critically Polluted Cities’ by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) which objected to further industrial expansion in the city earlier, was due to the marked decline in the RSPM levels during the last three years. They expect that the pollution control measures including mechanisation initiated by industries like the Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Essar Steel would lower the pollution levels substantially during the next couple of years.

However, environmentalists feel otherwise as the pollution levels are considerably high and more than double when compared to the standard levels.

They allege that the PCB officials are revealing half truth to public. They say that rise in suspended particulate matter, deterioration in ambient air quality, groundwater table, and increase in respiratory, skin, and other problems in the vicinity of various industries need to be taken seriously.

Those like Dr Shirin Rehman who heads voluntary organisation Chaitanya Sravanthi say that the PCB officials are bluffing and the pollution levels are still alarming. She challenged the PCB officials to reveal the monthly statistics of RSPM levels in all areas of the city to prove their point. “How can the officials claim that the pollution levels have decreased when they cannot provide specific data,” she questioned. The statistics acquired by Chaitanya Sravanthi through the Right to Information (RTI) Act reveal that at St Aloysius School in Old Town area, the PCB officials recorded the average RSPM level as 99.02 microns in 2010, 89.43 microns in 2011, 83.48 microns in 2012 and 114.1 microns as on February 2013.

According to the environmentalists, Visakhapatnam is still one of the non-attainment cities violating National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the CPCB. According to the NAAQS, the standard for concentration of RSPM in ambient air (24 hours) of industrial areas is 150 mg/m3; of residential, rural and other areas is 100 mg/m3; and in sensitive areas is 75 mg/m3. But the annual average values in residential areas of Visakhapatnam city itself are classified as high in most of the locations and moderate in industrial areas. The rapidly increasing vehicular pollution is also adversely affecting the phytoplankton of the water bodies and Bay of Bengal.

 
SOURCE : http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/Pollution-Unabated-Vizagites-Suffer-as-Officials-Environmentalists-Clash/2013/12/30/article1972746.ece
 


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