Over the past six years, the city has been turning into a veritable gas chamber with particulate matter, noxious gases, and other impurities breaching permissible limits.
During peak hour traffic of November 8 last year, a winter evening, one of the busiest traffic stretches in Kankaria experienced a sudden spike in the deadly particulate matter pollution-particles of size 2.5 (PM 2.5) micrometre.The PM 2.5 value at 8.32 pm was 184 micro gram per cubic metre, almost four times the national acceptable limits, measured by an air monitoring instrument of the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) kept atop a single floor building of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
This PM 2.5 value was more than what Beijing — the most polluted city in the world — had recorded on the same day, at the same time. Beijing had recorded 172 microgram per cubic metre.
Our incessant use of vehicles is pushing up the presence of noxious gases: NOx, SOx, ozone, benzene carbon monoxide, toluene and xylene, which enter our bloodstreams. Between 1.01 lakh and 1.7 lakh vehicles ply on three of the 38 major routes of the city in an 18-hour cycle.Tagged with the pollutants are the respirable PM 2.5 particulate matter that lodge deep into our lungs.
"PM 1 is generally given a miss. Black carbon particles from unburnt fuel from engines enter our bloodstreams. Like Mumbai and Delhi, Ahmedabad will get 10 24-hour monitoring systems for PM 1 by February ," said director of SAFAR, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology , Dr GufranBeig. A cursory glance of the GPCB's 24x7 air monitoring system at Maninagar shows that even the monthly average of particulate matter pollution exceeds dangerously both annual and daily permissible limits.
However, monitoring data may not be enough for Ahmedabad to tackle pollution. "Soon, Amdavadis will have access to real-time air pollution data," said KartikeyaSarabhai, the founder-director of the Centre for Environment Education. "What is important is how we plan to change our lives after we get this data."
Months like January, February and March show how PM 2.5 values exceed permissible limits twice over. The same is true for November and December, too. Similarly , in case of benzene, which is released from vehicle exhausts and industrial processes, the values exceed permissible limits.
DEADLY GASES
OZONE
Found in vehicular exhaust. Ground-leve ozone is among the primary components of photo-chemical smog and cause respiratory problems.
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
Forms an important part of suspended particulate matter of 2.5 micro size (PM2.5).
When exposed to ultraviolet light, it contributes to the release of ozone.
Emissions from cars, trucks are common sources of this gas.
CARBON MONOXIDE
It is particularly high in areas with slow moving or stationary traffic. It reacts with haemoglobin reducing blood's capacity to carry oxygen.
SULPHUR DIOXIDE
It is produced during burning of fossil fuels that contain sulphur.When it combines with water vapour, sulphuric acid is formed which is corrosive for skin and eyes.
What is particulate matter?
Particulate matter, 2.5 microns (PM 2.5) in size and 20 times smaller than the thickness of a human hair is present in vehicle exhausts. This enters our lungs and penetrates the lower respiratory tract and blood vessels around the heart. The exhaust aggravates conditions like asthma and problems related to nose and lungs.
