Paradise Circle & Abids Most Polluted Areas, Punjagutta Improves Slightly

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Paradise Circle & Abids Most Polluted Areas, Punjagutta Improves Slightly
Patan Afzal Babu | TNN

Hyderabad: Punjagutta, Paradise circle and Abids continue to be the most polluted areas in the city with regard to air quality. The three areas also recorded an increase in the levels of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide as compared to last year. This combined increase in air pollution will lead to more respiratory and eye problems among commuters, warn AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) officials.
However, there is good news for those living or passing through Punjagutta on a daily basis. Though the air quality data related to Respirable Suspended Particular Matter (RSPM) here was 120 micrograms per cubic metre this year, the highest in the city, it actually dropped from 139 micrograms per cubic metre that was recorded last year. The PCB officials who conducted a study said the drop could be attributed to the new Punjagutta flyover that is leading to a free flow of traffic.
However traffic congestion at Paradise circle in Secunderabad increased and so did the RSPM level here at 111 micrograms per cubic metre as against 108 recorded last year. Abids also registered a marginal increase with the RSPM at 108 micrograms per cubic metre as against 107 recorded last year. “While opening of new flyovers and road widening helped to check vehicular pollution in Punjagutta, the increasing traffic plus bad roads has led to its increase at Paradise circle,” said one PCB official.
Paradise circle appears to be the worst affected, recording an increase even in the presence of Total Suspended Particular Matter (TSPM) from 323 micrograms per cubic metre last year to 324 micrograms this year. But thanks to improved road quality, TSPM dropped from last year’s 388 to 344 this year at Punjagutta while it dropped to 318 from last year’s 328 at Abids. High levels of RSPM and TSPM can cause respiratory problems, eye irritation as well as darkening of the skin, APPCB officials said.
The figures also indicate that these areas have higher than permissible levels of air pollution. As per the national ambient air quality standards, concentration of RSPM in residential areas should not exceed 60 to 100 micrograms per cubic metre. Similarly, the TSPM should not be more than between 140 and 200. Thus the levels of both the indicators are higher than the permitted ones at all the three most polluted areas in the city.
According to the APPCB study, the presence of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide at the three most polluted areas in the city also increased slightly from the levels recorded last year.
Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada remained as polluted as last year, recording no decline in the RSPM and TSPM levels in their busiest areas. Police Barracks and Seetamma Dhara in Visakhapatnam and Auto Nagar and RTC bus stand in Vijayawada continued to be the most polluted areas.
“The PCB has recommended to the state government that strengthening public transport was the only way to check the increasing air pollution. We also told them to convert all buses and autos from diesel to alternative fuels like natural gas, LPG and biodiesel, failing which it may become increasingly dangerous to drive or walk on the city’s roads,” PCB senior executive environment engineer T Rajender Reddy told TOI