Experts on Friday said there was a need to make people feel responsible for the pollution they cause while batting for interventions that target at the sources of pollution to check the deteriorating air quality in Bengaluru.
At a workshop on data dissemination and capacity building, experts from the Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) released studies that help officials identify the sources of pollution and make strategic interventions.
CSTEP research scientist Pratmia Singh stressed the need to conduct scientific assessment through source apportionment and emission inventory. "Our studies estimate transportation to be the major contributor (from 40 per cent to 51 per cent) followed by dust resuspension (from 17 per cent to 51 per cent). Other polluting sectors include construction dust, domestic fuel and diesel generators," she said.
The studies pointed to possible measures like the increase in mode share of public transportation, diesel particulate filter installation in trucks and blanket ban on open waste burning that can reduce concentration of pollution in the city by up to 26.5 per cent.
Principal Secretary for Ecology and Environment Department Vijay Mohan Raj said there was need for "air guilt", the guilt that comes from knowing one's contribution to air pollution. "To do this, data needs to be presented in simple formats that could be understood even by children," he noted.
Chairman of Karnataka State Pollution Control Board Shanth Thimmaiah said the CSTEP's studies would be used to evaluate the KSPCB's action plans.
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Published 29 April 2022, 16:29 IST