CSE says winter pollution increases in most Indian cities
The report noted that emerging small and upcoming cities as centers of pollution. PM2.5 levels, the highest risk of particulate matter, worsened in 43 of 99 cities whose winter air in two years, 2020 and 2019, was compared by the Center for Science and Environment (CSE). Only 19 registered “substantial improvements” – and one of them was Chennai. Other cities did not experience significant changes. In the aftermath of the lockdown, many cities reported an improvement in pollution levels, but in winter, when the lockdown was significantly relaxed, pollution levels reverted to pre-COVID-19 levels, CSE notes Was given, underlining the important contribution of local and regional factors. City pollution level The worst polluting cities in 2019 include Gurugram, Lucknow, Jaipur, Visakhapatnam, Agra, Navi Mumbai and Jodhpur. Kolkata is the only mega city of this group. In 37 cities that are otherwise showing steady or falling seasonal averages, their pollution levels have increased significantly during the winter. These include Aurangabad, Indore, Nashik, Jabalpur, Rupnagar, Bhopal, Dewas, Kochi, and Kozhikode. On the other hand, in North India, other cities including Delhi have experienced the reverse, ie an increase in the seasonal average but a decline in the seasonal peak. During winters, traps of calm and calm weather and spread daily pollution, especially in North Indian cities which are situated in the Gangetic plain of India. The average level of PM2.5 during the summer and monsoon months this year was significantly lower due to the summer lockdown than the previous year. However, winter PM2.5 concentration increased in many cities in the region compared to the winter of 2019. He said, ‘Jumpdown of lockdown after pollution exposes the high impacts of local and regional pollution. It calls for accelerated regional reforms to curb pollution from vehicles, industry, power plants and burn waste to prevent winter pollution and maintain annual improvements on a regional scale with speed, ” Anuma Roychowdhury, CSE executive director in charge of research and advocacy, said in a statement. The analysis is part of CSE’s air pollution tracker initiative. It is based on publicly available granular real time data (15-minute averages) from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The data is captured from 248 official stations under the Continent Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across 115 cities across 22 states and union territories. CSE analysts only considered cities that read at least 75% of the winter days (from 1 October to 31 January) for both years. When ranked among the least polluted cities, 23 of the most polluted cities are from North India. Mysuru is the least polluted, followed by Satna in Madhya Pradesh and Kochi in Kerala, Ghaziabad in the northern belt. There are only four cities (Satna, Mysuru, Vijayapura and Chikkamagaluru) that have met the national 24-hour standard (60 μg / m3) during the winter season. According to the report, Satna and Maihar in Madhya Pradesh, and Mysuru in Karnataka, are the cleanest cities in the country. The authors of the study also emphasized that instead of mega cities, it was small and upcoming cities that were emerging as centers of pollution. “This report makes it clear that this winter pollution challenge is not limited to mega cities or a specific region; It is a ubiquitous problem and requires immediate and deliberate action everywhere. This requires quick improvement and action in key areas of pollution – vehicles, industry, power plants and waste management so that winter pollution can be controlled and the annual air pollution curve can be reduced. “