Ambient Air Quality and Noise at Delhi during Deepawali 2003

Ambient air quality is being measured during Deepawali days at Delhi for the past many years. During Deepawali days, the air quality deteriorates alarmingly due to the bursting of crackers. In order of assess the air pollution caused due to bursting of crackers, ambient air quality was measured at selected locations in Delhi during Deepawali of year 2003 also. The following are the major findings:

· Except for sulphur dioxide, the levels of all other pollutants at almost all the locations exceeded the air quality standards.
· RSPM and SPM levels during 2003 at B.S.Z Marg, Patel Nagar and Ashok Vihar were found lower than that recorded during 2002.
· Gaseous pollutants namely Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide and Sulphur dioxide also recorded low during Deepawali 2003 as compared to Deepawali 2002.
· Air quality improved significantly on the post Deepawali day.

Average noise level ranged between 69 to 90 Leq dB(A) against last year (Deepawali 2002) values of 66 to 82 Leq dB(A). The average values for normal days was ranging between 56 to 71 Leq dB(A). Highest average value for noise level was observed at New Friends Colony and Lajpat Nagar. The peak noise values at all the locations were observed in night hours i.e. between 20.30 hrs and 22.30 hrs. At some places, the maximum instantaneous values exceeded beyond 100 Leq dB(A).

Noise and Ambient Air Quality at Jaipur during Deepawali, 2003

CPCB conducted detailed ambient air quality monitoring and noise monitoring in Jaipur during Deepawali in collaboration with Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board. The data on noise level is presented below:

Impact on Ambient Air Quality and Noise Levels in Kolkata during Kalipuja/ Deepawali Festival - 2003

Ambient noise measurements were observed at 27 locations in Kolkata city in various categories of areas representing residential, commercial, industrial and silence zones spanning across the city. Monitoring was conducted for two days representing normal day prior to Kalipuja/Diwali festival and on the day of festival (when majority of fire works is displayed in the city). Similar to noise measurements, ambient air quality was also monitored for two days to assess change in air quality before and during the festival. Six monitoring locations across the city were selected. Monitoring was conducted for respirable dust, SO2 and NO2 concentrations. The study revealed following findings:

· Out of 27 locations monitored, noise levels were increased at 14 locations during daytime while in night increase in noise levels was found at 20 locations. In remaining locations, noise levels were either unchanged or even reduced.

· The ambient noise levels at different locations have increased between 1 to 14 dB(A) during daytime with an average of 6 dB(A) while in nighttime the increase was between 1 to 17 dB(A) with an average increase of 9 dB(A) due to the impact.

· Crackers were not the primary fire works being displayed by the citizens of Kolkata. The monitoring teams have encountered blasting of crackers very close to the sound level meter occasionally while taking observations in highly populated residential areas.

· Many people have reported that there was reduction in sale of fire-works in the city compared to previous years.

· Most of the fire works observed by the monitoring team were air polluting in nature rather than noise polluting.

· Beating of drums is one of the major sources of noise in some residential localities during nighttime. In these areas, drum sound dominated the cracker noise when measured as equivalent sound pressure levels for longer duration.

· Change in ambient noise levels is more prominent in nighttime (00:00 hrs to 04:00 hrs) compared to daytime. Compared to day, noise levels have changed in more locations and also increased more at night.

· The over-all impression of the study at Kolkata is, the increase ambient noise levels during festival is mainly from variety of sources such as beating of drums, firing crackers, movement of traffic and people throughout the day and night. Noise from crackers is sporadic and localized; it contributed marginally for increase in ambient noise levels. The average increase in ambient noise levels was within 10 dB(A) and may exist for 2 days (Kalipuja and Diwali) in the year.

· Primary air pollutants such as Respirable dust, Oxides of Sulfur and Nitrogen were found to have increased during the festive day. The change in air quality was much significant in residential dominated areas and insignificant at commercial, industrial and institutional areas.

· There was significant raise in dust concentrations on festival day, especially in the evening hours after 6 PM. Peak 8-hourly dust concentrations were found between 2 PM and 10 PM at all the locations monitored in the city.

· Monitoring station at a typical residential area with no significant pollution source such as vehicular traffic and industry in the vicinity. The average dust levels have increased from 69 µg/m3 to 235 µg/m3 during the festival day.

· Hazra, Cossipore and Behala stations being commercial and industrial areas had RSPM levels exceeding 100 µg/m3 prior to festival. These levels have further increased by 60 to 120% at Behala and Hazra due to their proximity to residential areas. The 24-hr average concentrations at Cossipore industrial area was however reduced due to reduced activity on festive day.

Nitrogen Dioxide concentration was also peaked during evening between 6 PM to 10 PM showing the impact of fire-works. The concentration during this period have exceeded safe limit of 80 µg/m3 however the average 24-hour concentrations were found between 37 - 77 µg/m3 at 6 stations. Here also the trends indicate that the concentrations are gradually falling back the following day.

Air Quality, Noise & BTX Monitoring at Kanpur during Deepawali Festival-2003

On the occasion of Deepawali, five ambient air quality monitoring stations were setup at Kanpur, where monitoring was conducted continuously for four days.

The RSPM values far exceed the prescribed norms clearly indicating significant impact on the air quality during Deepawali festival. The SO2 values though well within the prescribed norms. The NOx values, which in general in Kanpur always remain within prescribed norms, have gone much beyond the norms at two occasions clearly reflecting the impact of firing of crackers during Deepawali.

During same duration of Deepawali festival, continuous BTX analyser was operated at Shardanagar,Kanpur and daily average values of all the BTX parameters are arranged in the table below.

The data generated during BTX monitoring reveal that:

1) Benzene concentration 100 µg/m3 remained in the atmosphere on 22nd October and concentration of 200 µg/m3 remained on 23rd October evening time. While average concentration of Benzene of this place is measured between 10 to 30 µg/m3. Benzene is a stable compound and stays in the environment for several days. The festival season has increased the benzene levels nearly ten times

2) The average levels have increased drastically before Deepawali days but did not increase on and after festival days.

3) Daily variation of the air pollutants shows that the concentration of Toluene increases during evening hours and remained consistent till 2-3 AM.

4) The levels of BTX indicated that the concentration is not very high on the day of Deepawali rather remained very high 2 to 3 days before the occasion. The traffic activity required to be controlled in a big way so as to avoid traffic jams and should be better on earlier days rather than on the exact days of festival.

5) Toluene concentration of 700 µg/m3 remained in the ambient air on 23rd October and on 22nd October. While the average concentration of Toluene on normal days are about 100 µg/m3. Thus the toluene concentration was about seven times on festival days. Similar trend was observed for Ethyl Benzene and O-Xylene.

The noise monitoring was conducted to assess the noise pollution due to firing of crackers at 3 Residential, 4 Commercial and 3 Sensitive areas of the Kanpur City during 4 days around Deepawali. Values reflect the increase of noise level due to firing of crackers from 23rd October 2003 to 26th October 2003. The noise level observations are:
»Crackers were bursted even after 10:00 pm on festival night.
»The maximum noise level observed was 86.7 dB(A) in Govind Nagar area on deepawali day exceeding the prescribed norms by 31dB(A)
»Crackers were also bursted on the next day of Deepawali and maximum level of 87.6 dB(A) was observed near sensitive area of Kidwai Nagar.
»The commercial activities increased during the festival season also contributed to noise pollution.