A recent report on the air pollution published by UP Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) under the National Air Quality Monitoring Program revealed that despite several measures, there has been no improvement in the air quality control of Varanasi and Lucknow.
According to UPPCB sources, a total of 20 cities in UP were ranked for SPM, SO2 and NO2 levels in February and it was found that the levels of SPM10 and NO2 exceeded the nominal limits in Varanasi and Lucknow. In fact, besides Agra, these cities even worse than Allahabad, Kanpur, Ghaziabad and Firozabad in air quality tests.
In Varanasi, the SO2 levels were found to be 22.1 µgm/cu.m., in Sigra it was 22.3, Vedpur was 14.4. In Lucknow, at Talkatora, the SO2 levels were 11.6 and at Sarai Mali Khan, it was 10.5.
The highest SO2 levels were found at Chowk in Gajraula. Report indicated that even Moradabad had a higher SO2 level that Agra.
The cities that have been included in this report are Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi, Agra, Sonbhadra, Gajraula, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Allahabad, Noida, Khurja, Meerut, Firozabad, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Mathura, Rai Bareilly, Bareilly, Goraphpur and Unnao.
Talking to India Today, Senior physician Dr SK Kalra said that the SPM10 particles are the most dangerous pollutants as they cause a lot of respiratory and skin diseases. Propagated by industrial activities these particles are found more in heavily industrialised cities and consequently, due to Supreme Court restrictions of industrial activity in Agra, the SPM10 levels in the city were far less than the rest of the cities included in the list.
According to him the Central Pollution Control Board's Air Quality Index also shows that PM Modi's constituency Varanasi is far more polluted than Agra. It remains to be seen what measures does the prime minister takes in the direction of improving the air quality in the city.
