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Air
Quality Status and Trends in India
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Foreword
We can also make
do without water for a few days. But, we cannot live without breathing
air even for a few moments. The air that we breathe directly gets
into our bloodstream. Hence, it is necessary for us to ensure that
the air quality is not polluted beyond the threshold limits.
The human activities whether for cooking, space heating, transportation
or for industrial production use fuels of various kinds. Burning of
fuels leads to a plethora of combustion products, which contribute
towards air pollution. Besides man made pollutants, air pollution
such as in arid and semi-arid a~eas which are having high levels of
suspended particulate matter (SPM) can also be caused by natural conditions.
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Air
pollutants whether man made or natural are to be monitored to ascertain
their characteristics and concentration in the ambient air. Monitoring
helps us to take necessary preventive and control measures. With this
in view, the Central Pollution Control Board and the State Pollution
Control Boards have set up a network of air quality monitoring stations
(total 290) .The Central Pollution Control Board collates the air
quality data and' brings out the annual air quality statistics. Based
on such data, it has been possible to identify the polluted areas
and also prepare action plans. I may mention here about the Action
Plan which has been prepared for the Capital City of Delhi. Because
of initiatives taken for controlling the air pollution from different
sources, particularly automobiles, the increasing trend of air pollution
in the city has been arrested. We have been able to phase out lead
from petrol throughout the country from February, this year. It has
been possible within a span of 5 years, which is by no means a mean
achievement. The results f initiatives taken for improvement of fuel
quality, tightening of emission norms for vehicles and emissions from
industrial sources are being felt through ,findings of air quality
monitoring.
We are already
confronted with the environmental and health problems on account of
poor shelter and lack of safe water, sanitation and drainage. The
problems are further aggravated by harmful emissions caused by motor
vehicles, industries and domestic combustion of biomass and fossil
fuels. The present report highlights the status and trends of air
quality in different parts of the country based on the data collected
through the national ambient air quality network.
I am grateful to my collegues namely Dr. C. S. Sharma, Scientist 'C'
and Dr. B. Sengupta, Member Secretary, CPCB for preparing the report.
We hope, the report will be useful to all concerned with protection
and improvement of air |
Dilip Biswas
Chairman,
CPCB
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