There seem to be serious rise in the air pollution levels across Gujarat during the last one year, as air samples collected under both the National and State Air Quality Monitoring Programmes – NAMP & SAMP – show a deterioration in the quality of air in both cities and industrial clusters.
According to the figures shared by Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) in its annual report for the 2015-16, the ambient air quality samples collected under the SAMP & NAMP projects show that, compared to last year, the quality of air (PM10) has deteriorated not only in industrial clusters like Vapi, Ankleshwar and Vatva, but has also slid in residential and commercial areas of Surat, Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Rajkot.
GPCB monitors ambient air quality under various projects like SAMP, NAMP, Air Action Plan, etc in Gujarat.
The samples collected under the SAMP project show that PM10 levels have gone up in 22 of the total 24 stations covered under this project. Though the NOx (Nitrogen Oxides) figures continue to be under prescribed standards, they too have risen in 20 monitoring stations within a space of 12 months.
The highest levels of PM10 (particulate matter) have been recorded at Chhani (109 micrograms per cubic metre) in Vadodara, followed by Gotri (105) and GPCB office at Jamnagar (104). The monitoring stations at Sachin and Kadodara in Surat, Narol near Vatva and Nehru Bridge in Ahmedabad, all have PM10 levels equal or above 100 micrograms per cubic metre (m3) which is way above the national ambient air standards of 60 micrograms/m3.
PM10 levels in only two stations have show a slight improvement. These are located at the Alang-Sosiya Ship breaking yard where the ship recycling business is currently at an all time low.
Similar rise in pollution levels has also been seen in the figures collected under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP), where the quality of air is monitored by 38 stations with financial help from the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi. Under this programme, the quality of air (PM10) has deteriorated in at least 29 stations. The highest PM10 level has been clocked at Nandesari CEPT (111 micrograms/m3) at Vadodara., followed by Dahez SEZ (105) in Bharuch and Dandiya Bazar (101) in Vadodara.
NAMP figures also show that PM10 levels in industrial centres like GIDC Panoli, GIDC Jhagadia (both in Ankleshwar) and GIDC Narol (in Ahmedabad) have all increased.
“The rise in PM10 levels in Gujarat is primarily due to pollution caused due to traffic and industries. There has been a serious rise in the number of vehicles in the cities. Again the rise in NOx also points to the pollution caused by vehicular emissions,” says JK Vyas, Head, Industrial Pollution Prevention, of Centre for Environment Education (CEE).
“Poor condition of roads, non-mechanised sweeping and lack of trees bordering roadways all contribute to the rise in suspended particulate matter in cities. Burning of solid waste by sweepers on a daily basis is also unfortunate,” Vyas added.
The GPCB figures (SAMP) also show that the PM2.5 and SO2 levels have increased only in a couple of stations.
