Bengaluru air pollution reports higher than WHO standards

A recent environmental advocacy group, Greenpeace, in their report, claimed all the ten air quality monitoring stations in Bengaluru have registered pollution higher than World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. 

The report highlighted cities across India that breathe polluted air; and revealed that pollution is not only restricted to north Indian towns. The report read Airpocalypse IV underscored that more than 80 per cent of the cities/town has PM10 levels exceeding the 60µg/m3 limits for PM10 prescribed under National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).  

The values registered to the annual average values of the PM 2.5 and PM 10 at all Bengaluru's locations are higher than the WHO revised standards. The report named 'Are cities in South India breathing safe air? Further added, apart from that, all the station's PM 2.5 values are within the NAAQS standards, the eight stations PM 10 values are higher than NAAQS standards. 

The report arrives when people in the cities choose private vehicles over public transport given the rising Covid cases. Despite imposing lockdown, the annual average PM 2.5 and PM 10 of all studied ten south Indian cities surpassed the WHO revised standards. 

Nearly 12 million population in Bengaluru has almost 10 million vehicles in about 800 square km. Poor roads, lousy planning and increased use of private vehicles have led to the rapid degradation in the air quality in Bangaluru.

Also Read: Delhi sees improved air quality as AQI stands at 235 in 'poor' category

According to the Netherlands-based TomTom index, the Bengaluru city had gained global notoriety for its stretch vehicular movement when it was adjudged to have the world's worst traffic. 

As per the ninth edition of the Annual Traffic Index by TomTom, the global provider of navigation, traffic, and map products, Bengaluru tops the list beating behind 415 other cities across 57 countries in 2019.   

Vehicular emissions in Bengaluru are the most significant contributors to air pollution, followed by construction.

• Air quality index
• Bengaluru
• Central Pollution Control Board
• Greenpeace
• World Health Organisation