JOIN USBengaluru situation is grim when it comes to air pollution
By Kapil Kajal
While air pollution is responsible for the death of 1.2 million Indians and impacts around 3% of the Gross Domestic Product, certain hotspots in the country contribute majorly, with Bengaluru being one of them. Apart from health complications, air pollution also impacts the development of the region.
A Greenpeace India report traced air pollution levels across multiple states between 2015-16. Out of the 21 cities and towns in Karnataka where air quality was monitored, Bengaluru had the highest level of air pollution, closely followed by Tumkur.
Vijay Nishanth, a Bengaluru-based urban conservationist, stated that Bengaluru has downgraded from the ‘Garden City’ to ‘Garbage City’.
Rampant tree cutting and rise in high-rise buildings and paved streets have now left the city with only polluting sources, such as vehicles and industries, and nothing to curb it, he added.
In a study by The Energy and Resources Institute, the major sources of particulate matter 10 (particle less than size 10mm diameter) emissions in Bengaluru are transport (42%), road dust resuspension (20%), construction (14%), industry (14%), diesel generators (7%) and domestic (3%).
It added that the major sources of nitrogen oxides in Bengaluru are transport (68%), DG set (23%), industry (8%) and domestic (1%) and in the case of sulphur dioxide industry (56%), DG set (23%) and transport (16%) are the major sources at the city level.
The same report also highlighted that the share of transportation increases from 19% in PM10 to 50% in PM2.5, depicting the dominance of finer particles in the vehicular exhaust.
Diesel generators emerged out as an important source of air pollution and their contribution is 13% & 25% in PM10 and PM2.5 respectively, and the contribution of industries to the particulate matter is low in Bangalore, primarily due to the absence of any large scale unit, however, their contribution to the industrial zone (Peenya) is high and share of secondary particulates is higher in PM2.5 than PM10.
Such an increase in pollution, rapid urbanisation and a fast-paced socio-economic development are contributing to the rising incidences of cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructed pulmonary disease and asthma), diabetes, hypertension etc especially among vulnerable groups like children, the report added.
Non-communicable diseases are on the rise in Bengaluru and air pollution has been highlighted as a major concern, because of which pulmonologist appointments across the country have increased by almost 62% in 2016, as compared to 2015, according to a Practo report, which looked at the trends in diseases and illnesses across 35 cities in the country.
The numbers were highest in Bengaluru, with almost an 80% increase in a year, while in Mumbai and Delhi it was 64% and 50%, respectively.
Dr H Paramesh, a paediatric pulmonologist with the Lakeside Center for Health Promotion, stated that earlier the communicable diseases, like chickenpox and measles, used to be more and now the non-communicable diseases like asthma are increasing.
The Greenpeace report suggested monitoring of air quality across the country and using the data to frame policies and measure to protect public health and reduce pollution levels.
The strategies to reduce pollution should become an action plan which is time-bound and has targets and penalties.
Issuing alerts and health advisories during bad air-days, shutting down schools, taking polluting vehicles (odd/ even) off the roads, shutting down power plants and industries could significantly improve the quality of the air in the city, it added.
The report also suggested improving public transport, introducing less polluting fuel (Bharat VI), strict emission regulations, improved efficiency for thermal power plants and industries, moving from diesel generators to rooftop solar, increased use of clean renewable energy, electric vehicles, removing dust from roads, regulating construction activities and stopping biomass burning.
(Author is Bengaluru - based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)