Pollution in North India

The air pollution in some cities in North India has been reported high with respect to Particulate Matter (PM₁₀& PM_2.5) especially after Deepawali. The status in respect of big cities of north India with respect to air quality for the last three years for September, October and November which covers period of Diwali and harvesting of crops is annexed.  The increase in level of air pollution occurs due to adverse meteorological conditions like low temperature, poor wind speed and low mixing height in addition to the major contributing factors like road dust, vehicular emissions, construction and demolition activities, gensets, industrial emissions, garbage burning, stubble burning, hot mix plants, brick kilns, firecrackers etc.

      Lung and allied diseases are affected by a number of factors such as smoking, hereditary factors, lifestyle, occupation, socio-economic status, immunity levels, medical history etc. besides air pollution. No credible study to quantify number of people who have developed lung and allied diseases or number of deaths directly as a result of air pollution is available. 

     The implementation of pollution control measures is an on-going process. A review mechanism at the appropriate levels in the Central government and Chief Secretaries at the State level has been put in place to ensure implementation of sustainable measures to control pollution. Chairman, Central Pollution Control Board also reviews the implementation of measures to mitigate pollution. The review process brings about necessary improvements in respect of required measures.

          This information was given by Minister of State (Independent Charge) in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Anil Madhav Dave, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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HK

Annexure

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARA (a) OF THE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2104 DUE FOR REPLY ON 05.12.2016 REGARDING POLLUTION IN NORTH INDIA BY SHRI C. P. NARAYANAN, HON'BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Air quality status of big cities of North Indiafor 2013, 2014 and 2015(Annual average (µg/m³)

Cities	Month	2013-14			2014-15			2015-16
		SO2	NO2	PM10	SO2	NO2	PM10	SO2	NO2	PM10
Agra	Sep	4	16	91	4	14	93	4	17	132
	Oct	4	21	159	4	21	187	3	24	211
	Nov	6	33	311	5	39	344	4	33	302
Allahabad	Sep	5	15	221	3	19	233	2	18	248
	Oct	4	24	223	2	36	228	4	17	247
	Nov	6	22	245	3	39	249	6	36	246
Ghaziabad	Sep	24	37	202	24	40	195	23	40	248
	Oct	26	41	244	24	42	277	23	38	265
	Nov	27	40	249	*	*	*	22	36	301
Kanpur	Sep	5	19	127	5	32	144	6	31	167
	Oct	5	31	184	5	37	190	6	37	192
	Nov	5	39	279	5	41	287	7	39	249
Lucknow	Sep	7	27	180	7	27	157	7	26	158
	Oct	8	26	186	7	27	163	8	27	166
	Nov	8	30	199	7	27	166	8	28	172
Meerut	Sep	7	41	132	8	51	159	*	*	*
	Oct	8	42	139	8	54	163	*	*	*
	Nov	7	37	132	8	53	162	*	*	*
Varanasi	Sep	20	32	141	*	*	*	20	33	143
	Oct	20	32	141	19	33	142	19	34	147
	Nov	20	39	146	*	*	*	19	33	146
Amritsar	Sep	13	37	164	13	39	181	12	35	153
	Oct	15	40	171	14	47	202	12	35	164
	Nov	14	40	179	14	41	190	14	39	199
Faridabad	Sep	*	*	*	15	24	200	*	*	*
	Oct	11	22	131	16	25	213	*	*	*
	Nov	9	18	121	13	20	183	*	*	*
Gwalior	Sep	12	25	187	11	15	135	10	14	108
	Oct	12	25	188	10	15	133	*	*	*
	Nov	13	27	196	10	13	128	*	*	*
Jaipur	Sep	5	26	102	5	28	93	6	27	143
	Oct	6	31	134	7	59	158	7	33	182
	Nov	9	46	204	7	46	184	8	41	240
Delhi	Sep	4	53	134	4	53	174	4	46	123
	Oct	5	68	220	7	68	243	4	63	208
	Nov	5	78	292	12	87	314	5	86	340

NB. “*” data not available,Concentration exceeding NAAQS of 50 µg/m3 for SO₂, 40 µg/m3 for NO₂, 60 µg/m3 for PM₁₀ for Residential/ industrial / other area.

Courtesy: pib.nic.in