At a Bhogi awareness campaign meeting on Monday, TNPCB officials reiterated that residents must refrain from burning tyres and plastics on Bhogi.

In 2014, Thiruvotriyur had 131 RSPM µg/m3 (micro gram per metre cube) against the standard permissible limit of 100 RSPM. TNPCB, which has been measuring pre-and-post Bhogi day pollution levels in the city since 2001, said Manali (178), Madhavaram (185), Tondiarpet (193), Royapuram (258) and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar (175) were the other problem zones. Officials said the levels were lesser than what was recorded in 2013, when except Thiruvotriyur (167), the remaining six north Chennai zones had recorded RSPM levels well in excess of 200 µg/m3, higher than the standard permissible limit of Total Suspended Particulate Matter (TSPM).

“Air pollution is rampant on this particular occasion. It is causing new age respiratory diseases. It is the responsibility of youngsters to tell the older generation to stop,” said K Skandan, TNPCB chairman.

Minister for Environment Thoppu ND Venkatachalam flagged off 20 Bhogi awareness vehicles during the event. Venkatachalam said, “Monitoring equipment registers air and effluent discharge quantities from industries, helping us identify polluting units. Pioneering initiatives like Zero Liquid Discharge to treat effluents are put in place after concerns were raised about Noyyal river pollution,” the minister said.

V Thangavelu, Chairman of the Environmental Impact Assessment Division said the practice of burning material on Bhogi day ought to be discarded. “Centuries earlier, our ancestors started the practice of burning materials to prevent epidemics from spreading at the conclusion of monsoon. This need not be continued in modern times,” he said.

TNPCB officials said 218 industries were monitored for emissions, 66 for its effect on ambient air quality and a further 62 industries for effluent discharge. The state has identified 17 categories as highly polluting.