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Journalism of Courage
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report on air pollution, based on surveys carried out in 17 cities—Agra, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Jharia, Jodhpur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Patna, Pune, Solapur and Varanasi— over a period of 4 to 10 years upto 2005, does not project a very encouraging picture. Surveys were carried out in these cities after the Supreme Court expressed concern over the rise in pollution and sought action to reduce pollution in the cities.
Although the report shows a marginal decline in the pollution level, the situation is critical in many areas. Associate director of Centre for Science and Research Anumita Roychowdhury said: “Even if there has been a marginal decrease, the problem is that the decline over such a long period is still not good enough — neither for public health nor for the environment in general. In fact, an increase in the levels has been observed in some areas.”
The CPCB report examines the sources of pollution, ambient air quality and violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Also, given are the action plans, the action taken and the action proposed for the future.
CPCB Member Secretary BB Sengupta said, “These cities had alarming levels of pollution and we have taken action or have asked for action in these cities to curb pollution.”
In Kanpur several steps were taken to curb pollution. Although the result shows an initial decline in pollution, a rise in sulphur dioxide (SO2) was observed in later stages. The rise in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) and suspended particulate matter (SPM) are above NAAQS. Similar observations were made in Delhi and Lucknow.
“All the attention and focus is only on the big cities due to various pressures while the smaller cities and towns are being ignored and it is here that pollution levels are alarming,” said Roychowdhury.
