Polluted air choking Bangaloreans

Polluted air choking Bangaloreans
Deccan Herald

The pollution board has failed to implement the action plan framed in response to Supreme Court directives to improve the quality of air.


Stop breathing! If the latest findings of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) are to be believed, the air in Bangalore City is more polluted than ever.

Increased construction activity, heavy vehicular traffic, lack of a mass transit system and poorly-maintained roads are some of the factors that have led to the dismal state of affairs.

An analysis of regular air quality monitoring conducted by the KSPCB mobile laboratories during 2004-05 reveals that efforts like autorickshaws switching over to LPG and industries within the outer ring road using cleaner fuels, have not contributed in bringing down pollution level.


The Board’s ‘Ambient Air Quality Report’ undertaken to gauge the quality of air in the City has revealed that the level of Total Suspended Particulate Matter (TSPM- includes Respirable SPM, a major cause of lung and respiratory problems) around the Victoria Hospital area is double the permissible standards.

According to the report, the RSPM level was 62 ug/m3, when the permissible limit is only 50 ug/m3. Incidentally, Victoria Hospital is categorised as a ‘sensitive’ zone. Findings in other areas like Ananda Rao Circle and Mysore Road were no different. According to official sources, the level of RSPM at Ananda Rao circle is reportedly 30 per cent more than the permissible limits. However, this is lesser than the pollution level last year.

As for steps taken to bring RSPM under control, KSPCB Member-Secretary B Ramaiah said a series of recommendations have been submitted to the Environment Department.

“All the vehicles that have been running for more than 15 years should be phased out and two-stroke engines should be replaced by four-stroke ones in vehicles. For this purpose, we need the cooperation of departments like the transport department,” he said.

Implementation delays

To make matters worse, the action plan framed in response to the directives of the Supreme Court to cut the RSPM level in Bangalore haven’t been implemented by the KSPCB.

As per the plan, an ‘Online Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station,’ (that automatically records pollution levels at all times) should have been in place by June 5 last year. A year on, not much progress has been made on this front.

Asked about the implementation delays, KSPCB Chairman Bhoomanand Manay explained that a deadline extension was sought as the project involved high costs.

“Each of these machines cost about Rs 90 lakh and we are still awaiting financial clearance from our Board,” he said. This will be completed in another four months and the machines will be fixed at Yeshwanthpur and Town hall, the most polluted areas, he added.

Meanwhile, another proposal to introduce the ‘No Pollution under Control certificate - No fuel’ scheme at petrol bunks languishes on paper. This scheme, entrusted with the Board and the transport department, proposed to mandate that employees at bunks supply petrol only when vehicle-owners produced a clean fuel certificate. The deadline was October 2004.