Jaipur's Vishwakarma area most polluted in state, says report

JAIPUR: Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) has released the data collected by pollution surveillance centres in eight cities of the state. As per the data, Vishwakarma Industrial Area (VKI) has the highest particle matter (PM 10 rate) in the state.

The data collected is the average from July 2017 to June 2018 from eight major cities of Rajasthan i.e. Jaipur, Kota, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Alwar, Bharatpur, Chittorgarh and Bhiwadi. A few months back, the World Health Organisation (WHO) came up with a report in which it measured the level of particle matter 10 (particles smaller than 10 microns).


Jaipur came up as the most polluted city in the desert state, with highest PM 10 level. The international standards of air pollution state that 0-50 (micrograms per cubic meter air) is excellent, 51 - 100 is good and 101 - 150 is lightly polluted.

The PM 10 level in majority of the cities of the state is above 150, which is an alarming situation.

PM 10 contains dust particles, moulds and pollens that enter a person's lungs and can cause various diseases. Chief engineer of the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board, Vijay Singhal, said, "The data is collected from various cities of Rajasthan, so we cannot assume it as an average data of the state because it varies on various levels like population, number of vehicles in the city, factories etc. Rajasthan is still better than the other states but some action plan is needed. We are working on the air source appropriation study through which we can get the actual level of the problem. It will even help us to create a better action plan."

In cities of Rajasthan, Vishwakarma Industrial Area of Jaipur has 301 (micrograms per cubic meter air), followed by Urban Centre in Bhiwadi at 268, UIT Guest House in Bhiwadi and Housing Board in Jodhpur at 258. Ambamati in the city of Udaipur has the least rate of PM 10 at 94.