The ambient air quality in Puducherry took a beating this Deepavali with a significant increase in particulate matter (PM10) due to the bursting of crackers, with some areas witnessing a sharp spike in pollution that was above the prescribed limit and much worse when compared to levels on a normal day.
According to the monitoring carried out by the Puducherry Pollution Control Committee (PPCC), the Air Quality Monitoring report revealed that the 24 hourly average concentration of Particulate Matter (PM10) was found to be significantly higher on the day of Deepavali (180 g/m3) and above the prescribed standard limit of 100 g/m3 when compared to a normal day (73 g/m3).
Karaikal ranks better
In Karaikal, the concentration of particulate matter was higher on the day of Deepavali (62 g/m3), which may be due to bursting of crackers. This is within the prescribed standard limit of 100 g/m3 when compared to a normal day (35 g/m3).
The concentration of gaseous pollutants such as Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Sulphur dioxide (SO2) are within the prescribed standard limit (80 g/m3) during both the days.
The analysis of Air Quality index (AGI) in Puducherry on the day of Deepavali indicates that the value is falling in moderate category and on normal day, the value is satisfactory. In Karaikal region, the value is satisfactory on Deepavali and good on normal days.
This year, the noise level during Deepavali was found to be 82.8 decibels compared to normal day of 63.9 decibels. This is within the Supreme Court’s directive on noise level of 125 decibels.
The main cause of increase in ambient noise levels during festival is bursting of crackers whereas, in a normal day the main source to the noise level is transport.