‘Showers to lower heat and air pollutants’

Particulate Matter-2.5 (PM-2.5µg/m3),a harmful pollutant that leads to respiratory disorders among humans,was highest at Katraj and Nigdi and lowest near Pashan and Lohegaon.

SAFAR developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology provides for location-specific information on air quality in near real time and also a forecast of 24 hours in advance.

Programme Director Dr Gufran Beig told The Indian Express that with pre-monsoon showers and dipping mercury levels,the air quality is fast returning to normal and SAFAR has predicted that by June 5,both the PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels should fall to 50 µg/m3 and 25µg/m3 respectively.

However,Beig did express concern over the high PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels in most parts of the city,when he said their levels had risen way above the permissible limit of 100 microgram per metre cube (µg/m3) in most parts of the city (See Graph I). In May,the PM-10 level has crossed 150µg/m 3.

May also saw a poor show as far as nitric oxide content in the air is concerned. The level of NO2 (nitrogen dioxide),which is mostly released from vehicles exhaust,was quite high in Hadapsar,followed by Alandi (See Graph II),Beig said. The permissible limit for N02 is 42 particles per billion (ppb). Beig pointed out that due to heavy traffic congestion in some parts of the city,the NO2 level varies.

The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s SAFAR air quality forecasting system was launched in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. Its ten Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AQMS),set up with a whopping Rs 10 crore expenditure,are in Pashan,Shivajinagar,Pune Airport- Lohegaon,Alandi,Bharati Vidyapeeth-Katraj,Lohiya Udyan-Hadapsar,Bhosari,Sector-23-Nigdi,VSI- Manjri and DIAT-Girinagar.