Andhra Pradesh ranks high on the list of providing real-time data although the particulate matter in at least 15 of its cities is higher than the permissible limit.

The report which outlines air pollution levels across over 230 Indian cities paints a grim picture for TS. The state has over 39 air quality monitoring systems spread out in over 11 cities and districts but mostly concentrated in Hyderabad.

Telangana was also found to have the worst pollution levels from January to February 2017 and then from October to December. This variation was clearly noted in Hyderabad and Medak where the PM 10 levels spiked in October and then remained constant till December.

The highest PM levels in Hyderabad were recorded at 117 in November 2016 – 17 per cent higher than the daily standard and almost twice as high as the annual standard.

P. Veeranna, chief scientist officer in TSPCB, said, “We installed air quality monitoring stations to ensure that the data is available to the public and are working on installing more. Some cities do exceed the annual average, but we are trying to maintaining the average. It has been decreasing consistently for the past two years.”

PCB officials said that the increase was probably because of the many festivals in October.

The report also stressed on the number of children living in polluted areas. Over 47 million children under the age of five live in areas where pollution has exceeded the permissible limits, and 17 million children live in areas where the air pollution levels are higher than stipulated standards by more than twice.

Dr T. Unnikrishnan, a senior general physician, said, “Children will be most affected by particulate matter. Regular exposure to pollution can lead to chronic lung diseases even in a young age. Regular breathlessness, asthma and bronchitis are common symptoms experienced by children in polluted areas.

The particulate matter which can enter one’s lungs is very harmful to even adults.”

The report recommends the setting up of institutes for robust monitoring of air quality all over the country and make the data available to public in real-time, coupled with a health advisory and ‘red alerts’ for bad-air days so that the public is able to take steps to protect themselves from the environment.

The report reads, “Measures like shutting down schools, reduction of traffic, shutting down power plants and industries etc should automatically come into force as soon as air quality deteriorates beyond a level and takes alarming proportions.”

Pollution experts stated that ‘Red Alert Days’ will help in increasing awareness about the decreasing quality of air. Sandeep Naigani, an expert said, “This measure will at least make sure that every citizen knows about the air quality in his/her city. It will hopefully instil a sense of responsibility among citizens to ensure that they do not take out their vehicles and use public transport and stop burning garbage, bursting crackers and others. Having a ‘red alert day’ after a festival will open the eyes of the public.”

AP is slightly better off with marginal increase in pollution in Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram. along with a slight decrease in Guntur, Kurnool, Vijayawada and Eluru. Vizianagaram recorded the highest PM10 levels for a given month in the state with values breaching the 130 µg/m3 level in October 2016.