A record low in air and noise pollution on bundh day

A record low in air and noise pollution on bundh day
Bangalore, July 6, DHNS:

Bharat Bundh on Monday could have brought the City to a standstill inflicting major blow to trade and business but it gave a welcome breather to the residents of the City as the level of pollution dropped to a pleasant low.

The deserted road, less vehicular movement, children playing on an otherwise busy streets and people strolling leisurely on the roads reminded the grand-old folk their golden old days when Bangalore had earned the name of 'Garden City' and 'Pensioners' Paradise'.

Traffic police who usually have to deal with heavy pollution in the City on other days appeared quite happy.

"It is great to work on such days when you do not have any vehicular movement. The atmosphere with less pollution looks quite good," said a traffic constable.

"Air pollution was almost 40 per cent below the average," said a smiling A S Sadasivaiah, chairperson of the Pollution Control Board.

Toxic gases like sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and suspended particles were much below the permissible levels in those areas which have earned notoriety in terms of pollution. Sound pollution was almost 30 per cent below the permissible level. "Some amazing figures in terms of less pollution have been recorded. The KSRTC Bus stand which normally records 90 decibels recorded just 57.4 with 36 percent less reduction," said Sadashivaiah.

Steep reduction

According to the available data, City Railway Station showed a steep reduction in oxides of nitrogen (NOx). The permissible standard for NOx is 80 micrograms per cubic metre. The pollution level is so high that the average NOx content in this part of the City on other days is 148 micrograms.

But on Monday it reduced to 34.02 microgram per cubic metre. Even the Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) was 35 per cent below the average value on normal days.

Yashwanthapur, too showed a steep decline in the RSPM and Suspended Particulate Matters (SPM) of 34 per cent and 46 per cent respectively.

Near Graphite India in Whitefield, RSPM and SPM used to be 129 MPCM and 257 MPCM on other days, reduced to 35 MPCM and 149 MPCM respectively on Monday.