People continue to breathe ‘worst’ air in Patna

PATNA: The air quality in Patna remained worst for the third consecutive day on Wednesday. The overall air quality index (AQI) at 4pm was recorded at 386, which is in ‘very poor’ category, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Moradabad in UP was the second most polluted city in the country with AQI at 380 on Wednesday.
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The maximum PM 2.5 (suspended particulate matter less than 2.5 microns) at 453 was the major factor behind air pollution besides Nitrogen Dioxide at 100ug/m3, Carbon Monoxide at 76ug/m3 and ozone at 38 ug/m3.The air quality may further deteriorate as the Patna Meteorological Department predicted gradual fall in day and night temperatures by 1-2 degrees Celsius.
A professor at Department of Environmental Science of Central University of South Bihar, Pradhan Parth Sarthi said the weather conditions would remain dry due to absence of moisture in environment. “There are chances of minor fluctuations in weather conditions only if the low pressure being formed over the Bay of Bengal intensified,” he said.
Chief executive officer of Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) Rampati Kumar said an analysis of the air quality data last month clearly indicated that except for one day, the AQI of Patna remained consistently in ‘poor’ to ‘severe’ categories.
Rampati told mediapersons on Wednesday that the state government has to enforce Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) as notified by the CPCB. “It has sent an immediate short-term action plan to the state government to control further loading of emissions and prevent higher smog peaks and exposure. It has been made in line with the GRAP notified and implemented in Delhi-NCR region,” he said.
He said the agencies seem to have failed to implement the state government’s recent recommendations of the ‘Comprehensive Clean Air Action Plan for the city of Patna’ because the city’s air quality had been in ‘severe’ category for six days since the launch of action plan.
CEED’s senior program officer Ankita Jyoti explained the urgency of implementing GRAP: “As per the GRAP norms, Patna on severe air pollution days should have witnessed a ban on all the construction activities, brick kiln units. The schools and colleges should also have been temporarily suspended.”
She said at similar pollution level in the Delhi-NCR region, the government had ensured temporary restrictions on construction activities, hot mix plants and all fuel-based industries.