Pollution levels dropped on Bus Day

Pollution levels dropped on Bus Day
S Lalitha, Bangalore, Feb 6, DHNS:

There is clearly a need for more ‘Bus Days’ in the City as the first such venture by the BMTC on Thursday saw a marked slump in the level of pollutants in the atmosphere.

As many Bangaloreans, particularly software professionals, hoped on to the buses, three vital air pollutants –– Residual Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM), Sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen (NO), which cause heart and lung diseases, dipped considerably at Marathahalli (Old Airport Road).

According to the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, the reduction in pollution levels range from 8 to 21 per cent. Other pollutants like oxides of carbon and ozone too have showed marginal depreciation.

The findings were arrived at after an analysis of ambient air quality levels before, during and after the ‘Bus Day’. The KSPCB mobile laboratory was stationed for eight hours on February 2, February 4 (Bus Day) and February 5. The monitoring was carried out from 10 am to 6 pm on all the days.

The Board initially planned to monitor the pollution level along Hosur Road too but the possession of just a single mobile lab unit forced it to record readings in one area alone. “We will monitor the pollution levels along a different stretch during the next Bus Day,” the official added.

The level of pollutants clearly shot up the subsequent day and this has come as a shot in the arm for BMTC.

Reacting to the findings, Member Secretary of the Board, M S Gowdar said this novel effort by BMTC was “a very welcome one”. The figures clearly reveal the need for many more such ‘Bus Days’ in the City, he opined. “If Bangaloreans voluntarily decide to commute by buses for one day in a week, it could improve the quality of air considerably,” he added.