Greenpeace India releases report on air quality

 In early September 2024, Greenpeace India released the report “Spare the Air -2” (An Air Quality Analysis of 10 Cities from Southern India Edition-2). The report focused on the 10 south Indian cities, five of which (Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Vijayawada, and Visakhapatnam) are non-attainment cities under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP). These cities were selected based on the availability of data, population, and monitoring station networks.

The highlights of the report:

• The yearly and monthly levels of PM2.5 and PM10 exceeded the revised WHO standards in all studied south Indian cities.
• The annual average level of PM2.5 is 6 to 7 times higher than WHO standards in Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kochi, Mangaluru, Amaravati and Chennai.
• The annual average of PM10 level is slightly to 1.5 times higher than NAAQS standards in Mangaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Amravati, Chennai and Vijayawada.
• The monthly average trend in Bengaluru city shows that PM2.5 levels are 5 to 6 times higher, and PM10 levels are 3 to 4.5 times higher than WHO annual guidelines in all months. Meanwhile, PM10 exceeds NAAQS annual limits in February, March, April, October, November, and December.
• The monthly average trend in Hyderabad city shows that PM2.5 levels are 7 to 8 times higher and PM10 levels are 4 to 5 times higher than WHO annual guidelines. PM2.5 exceeds NAAQS annual limits from January to April, November, and December. PM10 exceeds NAAQS limits in January to June, August, October, November, and December.
• The monthly average Trend in Chennai city shows that PM2.5 are 4 to 7 times higher and PM10 levels are 3 to 6 times higher than WHO annual guidelines. PM2.5 exceeds NAAQS annual limits in January, while PM10 exceeds limits in January, February, October, and December.

The report shows that there is an urgent need to add other cities in south India to the non-attainment list under NCAP. The Clean Air Action Plan reports have shown that the emissions from vehicle exhaust, road dust, construction and demolition activities, industrial processes, and burning biomass are the main sources of rising particulate matter (PM) levels.

The report finds that air pollution is a matter of concern for south Indian cities as well as those in the north. The report shows that there is an urgent need to add other cities in south India to the non-attainment list under NCAP.