The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Citizens breathe easy during festivals

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Tuesday, Jan 22, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Citizens breathe easy during festivals

Due to holidays, the air pollution levels dropped drastically

Same happens with the noise levels as well
All the parameters plummeted to safe levels during the four days

HYDERABAD: Sankranthi festivities appear to have come as a blessing for the denizens as they could breathe easy, albeit their joys were short lived. The extended holiday mood that prevailed for four days from January 12 to 15 had the pollution levels dropping drastically as the city streets wore a near deserted look.

Underscoring the direct correlation between increase in number of vehicles and the rise in pollution, almost all the parameters plummeted to safe levels during these four days. However, the moment offices and educational institutions reopened, the pollution parameter recordings started to claw their way past the accepted standard levels.

TSPM

The Total Suspended Particulate Matter (TSPM) at Paradise which stood at 384 ug/m3 on January 10 against a standard of 200, fell to 362 on January 11, was 234 on January 13 and tumbled further to 163 on January 15. After having gone down by more than half of its regular average, it rose again once vehicles started jamming the roads and stood at 319 two days later. The TSPM recordings at Punjagutta during this time also went in for a sharp downward curve and from 364 ug/m3 on the eve of holiday season, dropped to 189 and rose back to 416 by the time the traffic was fully restored.

Key parameter

Another key parameter, Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) was 138 ug/m3 at Abids the day before holiday mood set in and went down to 94 on January 12, 81 the next day and stood at 67 on the festival day. And two days later, it read 159 ug/m3 against an accepted limit of 100 ug/m3.

Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) data shows the Oxides of Nitrogen going down during the same period only to rise commensurately with the vehicular population on the roads once the buzz returned.

From a recording of 41 at Punjagutta before the holidays commenced, it dipped to 23 on festival day when the streets were bereft of much activity and climbed back to 39 on January 17.

And the same happened for the noise levels too which according to the PCB officials went down from an average of 90 dB to almost touch 50 dB.

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Andhra Pradesh