BENGALURU: The Air Quality Index (AQI) data released by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for July shows improvement in areas like Central Silk Board and Whitefield, where heavy vehicular movement dominates the road and construction contributes to dust. The board credits change in the weather pattern for improving air quality.
“The major contributors to pollution are construction and vehicular movement which give rise to dust. Unlike last year, we have received evening showers regularly this year that has subsided dust particles. Apart from this, I do not see any other reason behind improved AQI,” said Mr Manoj Kumar, KSPCB, member secretary. He said that the action plan submitted by the board has been accepted by different government departments. “Each department is trying to achieve the task entrusted to them. Mechanical sweepers are in place to control the dust. The new apartments will be mandated to have charging stations for electric vehicles. We are focusing on enhancing the environment of the city as well,” he explained.
However, environment consultant and air quality expert Mahesh Kashyap finds the data incorrect. “The table shows monthly average of the pollutant concentration (in ug/m3) which is okay for reporting purposes. These values are taken to calculate AQI which is not correct. The AQI should be calculated using 24-hour average concentration, not the monthly concentration. When the monthly average concentration is used to calculate AQI, it naturally shows lower value as AQI is calculated here using the lower values of monthly concentration.”
