Bengaluru had less polluting Deepavali in 2019: Report

Deepavali added a significant amount of polluting gases to the city’s air but the pollution levels were lower compared to last year, according to a report by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB).

The report released on Wednesday indicated that there has been a 26.7% decrease in Air Quality Index (AQI) during the festival days as compared to the previous year.

Basavaraj Patil, secretary, KSPCB, said this could largely be attributed to the rains in the city. The Board compiled data from seven of its Continuous Air Quality Monitoring Stations on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to study the impact of firecrackers during the festival. In 2018, the AQI was 110.9 (moderate level) while it went down to 81.3 this year, which falls under the ‘satisfactory’ category.

The trend prevailed in most other parts of the city barring S G Halli, Basaveshwaranagar which saw a slight change from 81 to 85.

However, there was an increase of 18.5% in the AQI recorded at seven stations — City Railway Station, Basaveshwaranagar, Veterinary College Hebbal, Jayanagar 5th Block, Kavika on Mysuru Road, Nimhans and Central Silk Board.

The highest increase in AQI was noted around the Nimhans area and Basaveshwaranagar.

Data from 13 other monitoring stations are yet to be assessed, said the Board.