NEWS – The analysis of air quality in 10 cities including major urban areas and smaller cities like Mysuru and Mangaluru was released by Greenpeace India as “Spare the Air” report

HIGHLIGHTS

Comparison of Standards:

• WHO vs. NAAQS Standards: WHO guidelines for annual PM 2.5 levels are set at 5 µg/m³, and PM 10 at 15 µg/m³. In contrast, NAAQS permits 40 µg/m³ for PM 2.5 and 60 µg/m³ for PM 10.
• Current Pollution Levels: Mysuru, Bengaluru, and Puducherry showed PM 10 levels 4-5 times above WHO limits. Other cities like Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad had levels up to 9 times higher.

Air Quality Data for Bengaluru:

• Monitoring Stations: Bengaluru’s 14 monitoring stations revealed PM 2.5 levels exceeding WHO standards at 12 stations, and PM 10 levels at nine stations.
• Trend Analysis: PM 2.5 levels were 5-6 times higher, and PM 10 levels were 3-4.5 times higher than WHO standards.

Specific Findings for Mysuru and Mangaluru:

• Mysuru: Rapid transport sector expansion correlates with rising pollution. The city has only one monitoring station, and both PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels breached NAAQS and WHO standards.
• Mangaluru: Similar trends with PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels surpassing both sets of standards.