21/06/2016 Patna's air 5 times above safe levels, 2.5 times worse than Delhi's
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In 2016, the air in BiharÂ’s capital, Patna, was classified the worldÂ’s sixth-most polluted in a World Health Organisation (WHO) ranking of 3,000 cities in 103 countries. There are 10 Indian cities among 20 globally with the most polluted air.
Over the same period and time, Delhi's PM 2.5 levels were twice above the same WHO guidelines. Source: #Breathe, IndiaSpend‘s air-quality sensor network. Data for 13 May to 14 June, 2016 Particulate matter in air increases as the day progresses Average PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels rose steadily through the day in Patna and peaked at close to 180 and 300, respectively, in the evening. PM 10, or coarse particulate matter with diameter between 2.5 and 10 micrometers, are primarily made up of dirt and dust from farming, factories and roads. The levels of PM 2.5 and PM 10 were highest during the afternoons. The nights were nearly as bad. “The mornings were equally bad but slightly better than the nights,” said the CEED report. Only three times during our study did PM 10 concentrations reach a “moderate” level, meaning breathing discomfort for people with sensitive lungs, asthma and/or heart diseases. Similarly, PM 2.5 levels were highest in the morning, afternoon and midnight, staying above safe levels 70 per cent of the time. Patna air more than twice as polluted as DelhiÂ’s The average AQI in Patna over the past month (May 13 to June 14 , 2016) is more than twice the average AQI recorded by our sensors in Delhi and nearly six times the average AQI in Mumbai over the same time period. On 14 of the last 33 days, the average quality of air in Patna has been worse than the most polluted location in Delhi, RK Puram Sector 9.
Source: #Breathe, IndiaSpend‘s air-quality sensor network. Data for 13 May to 14 June, 2016 Windy days witness better air qualityDays that experience greater wind speed also tend to experience lower levels of air pollution, according to data of average wind speed and AQI from IndiaSpend‘s Gandhi Maidan, Patna City and Patna Junction sensors. Readers are advised to exercise caution while interpreting these results since a thorough understanding of effect of wind speed on air quality index (AQI) requires additional in-depth analysis.
Source: #Breathe, IndiaSpend‘s air-quality sensor network. Data for 13 May to 14 June, 2016 What can be done? The government has to step inPatna need a “clean-air action plan”, said the CEED report. The city first needs an alarm system of “red-alert days” when levels are very high, or off the scale, as our data show. The government must build a mass-transportation system and ensure vehicles use cleaner fuel. The report recommends the government move up Bharat stage IV - cleaner fuel than is presently used - requirements from the target date of April 1, 2017. Since PatnaÂ’s economy is driven by diesel - both industrial and agricultural sectors - the city needs to implement roof-top solar power and other power-saving measures on “a war footing”, the CEED report said. Patna would also need to evolve a schedule to shut down a nearby polluting power plant (in Muzzafarpur). The city also needs to stop the burning of garbage, coal, control construction dust and plant more trees and green the verges of roads. Note: The data for this study was obtained from IndiaSpend sensors; the values were sampled every five minutes and aggregated every hour. The obtained value was then converted into particulate matter, with a 24-hour concentration value, as prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. |
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