First day cracker show pushes up pollution levels by several notches in Bengaluru

Air and noise pollution went up in Bengaluru and 22 other districts on Tuesday night as the state celebrated the first leg of Deepavali ahead of Balipadyami, which usually sees more crackers than Naraka Chaturdashi.

Data from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) monitoring centres showed that in Jayanagar, Silk Board and Bapujinagar, the level of PM2.5, the deadliest of all pollutants, stayed between 414 and 500 micrograms between 9 pm and 12 am. It was around 400 micrograms/cubic metre in Hebbal.

The average amount of PM10 in Jayanagar went up from 39 micrograms per cubic metre on October 17 to 136 on October 24. It was 49 to 113 in Hebbal and 51 to 140 at Silk Board. The PM10 count in the air went up to ‘severe’ category (377 micrograms per cubic metre) at all three stations.

Seen from the perspective of Air Quality Index (AQI), which takes into consideration several parameters, two monitoring stations recorded very poor AQI. Silk Board had the worst AQI in the city at 320 points, followed by Karnataka Vidyuth Karkhane station (312 points).

At other stations, both PM2.5 and PM10 levels remained high above the air quality standard prescribed by the World Health Organisation (15 and 45 micrograms/cubic metre, respectively) as well as the national standard of 60 and 100 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.

Officials attributed the jump to the bursting of crackers. “Jayanagar monitoring station points to the undeniable role of crackers in the increasing pollution levels. While traffic still plays a role in places like Silk Board and Hebbal, one can safely say that the major impact has come from bursting of crackers which not only release noxious smoke but also create particle pollution,” a senior official said.

This is further corroborated by the surge in noise pollution levels. Of the 14 KSPCB manual stations set up for noise monitoring in Bengaluru, nine stations recorded a rise in levels. Across Karnataka, 22 of the 28 stations recorded a rise in the noise level.

Former environment secretary A N Yellappa Reddy said the public and the government need to understand the long-term implications of crackers. “Air and noise pollution have a long-term impact on the life of people, especially the poor and the elderly, and animals. Unfortunately, there is no regulation in core residential areas,” he said.

He said the culture of spreading light should not harm the environment. “If crackers are still seen as an essential part of culture, let there be areas demarcated to burst them. Moreover, the government needs to check the chemicals used to prepare the crackers. At present, we do not have such quality assessments,” he added.