Bengaluru among 11 cities in Karnataka breathing toxic air: Greenpeace report

BENGALURU: As per the latest Airpocalypse III report released this month by Greenpeace, Bengaluru is one of the cities that will continue to have high levels of pollution even in 2024.

The 2017 statistics mentioned under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) released by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change shows PM10 levels to be at 92 micron.

“As per the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), the annual PM10 emissions of a city or town cannot cross 60 micron. As per the central government’s NCAP, the target is to reduce pollution by 20 to 30 per cent by 2024,” said Madhulika Verma, senior media officer of Greenpeace.

“In the best case scenario, if Bengaluru manages to reach this target, it will still fall short in 2024. The PM10 will stand at 64, which is still a high level of particulate matter in the air,” Verma added.

Bengaluru is one among the 152 cities and towns in India which falls in the non-attainment list in the report. This list refers to those cities that do not comply with NAAQS standards, prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

“NCAP recommends multiple steps to reach this target. One of it is source apportionment studies to determine which sector is contributing the most to pollution. As per our first Airpocalypse report published in 2017, transportation contributed to a major share of PM10 levels (42%) in Bengaluru. The government will have to look at steps such as improving public transportation, fuel-efficient vehicles etc,” said Verma.

Speaking on the issue, environmentalist Yellappa Reddy, said, “Bengaluru is heading to a point of no return. Lakes and garbage are burning, the transport department does not regulate emission from vehicles, but which politician or government official is talking about it?”

Breathing toxic air

The analysis by Greenpeace India has shown that apart from Bengaluru,10 other cities in the state have failed to meet the national standards of air pollution level.

These cities are Bidar, Tumakuru, Vijayapura, Belagavi, Davanagere, Raichur, Karwar, Hubballi, Mangaluru and Kolar.

According to the NCAP, four cities have pledged to cut pollution by 30 per cent to check the pollution level by 2024. Only four, out of the 11 affected cities, come under the NCAP of the Central government – Bengaluru, Davanagere, Hubballi and Kalaburagi.

This is alarming because the cumulative study by the global environment organisation shows that seven cities, not coming under the NCLP, assuming if their pollution level is reduced by 30 per cent, will fail to meet to air quality standards set by National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Among all the cities, Tumakuru has the worst pollution level with PM10 at 136. From 2014 to 2017, the pollution level there hovered between 117 to 125.