Air, noise pollution biggest concerns

Air, noise pollution biggest concerns
Deccan Herald

Polluting vehicular smoke and ear-splitting noise of horns are what stand as top-of-mind recall among people in the City...

Polluting vehicular smoke and ear-splitting noise of horns are what stand as top-of-mind recall among people in the City. This is followed by an increasing concern over the loss of tree cover, traffic congestion and lack of open spaces like parks and playgrounds.

The Environment Report Card of Bangalore released by the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), on Saturday, had residents rating pollution, both noise and smoke from vehicles, as the biggest concern as regards the environment in the 100 wards in three zones of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Headed by former State chief secretary Dr A Ravindra, CSD considered several indicators like water, sanitation, air quality, traffic and transport, open spaces and tree cover.

Not one of the locations studied for ambient air quality standards and suspended particulate matter (SPM) came within the low value range which is between 0-70 mg/m cube. Nearly all of them fell in the moderate to high value range.

As regards trees and gardens which actually gave Bangalore the tag of Garden City, a whopping 67.1 per cent of the 400 residents questioned in South Bangalore expressed dissatisfaction with the tree cover in their area followed by 48.75 per cent in the West zone.

People also complained of lack of open spaces, parks and playgrounds.

The report holds people responsible for some of the environmental problems as they throw waste into drains and vacant sites, use excess water for non-potable purposes, stack building materials on footpaths and roads and are indisciplined on roads.

The report says that one solution would be to chart out ak Environmental Management Action Plan (EMAP) focussed on water conservation, remodelling of storm water drains, promotion of public transport, LPG use in all autorickshaws, penalty for flouting vehicle emission norms and solid waste management.

As part of environment management and governance, it states that the ability to implement plans, public participation and access to information on environment should be strengthened, supported by a sustained environmental campaign.