bangalore air pollution

Rarely do government circulars not raise a controversy. And the latest one by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is no exception. The circular mandates “Retrofitting of Emission Control Devices/Equipment to all Diesel Generator (DG) Sets with Capacity of 125 KVA and above in Karnataka”. Based on a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order on controlling air pollution, the circular specifies a minimum mandated Particulate Matter capturing efficiency of at least 70%, with a corresponding increase in fuel efficiency. The order makes it compulsory for DG users to get their emission control devices certified by one of five laboratories empanelled…

To address the looming air pollution crisis in Bengaluru, Health & Environment Alliance (HEAL), a leading European non-profit organisation, in collaboration with Global Climate and Health Alliance (GCHA), launched the Healthy Air Coalition on Friday, 5th April, at the St John’s Research Institute (SJRI). SJRI is a key partner of the initiative. According to a study published in the environment journal Lancet Planetary Health, air pollution in India leads to at least 1.2 million premature deaths each year. The 2018 study attributed one in eight deaths that occurred in India in 2017 to poor air quality and exposure to ultra-fine…

Air pollution has been a cause of worry globally. Economic growth of cities has influenced the spatial patterns of emission sources, directly impacting public health. Bengaluru’s rapid development and changing landscape followed by lack of planning has led to several urban concerns, with air pollution being a crucial one. Contributors to air pollution are unique to each city. Vehicular pollution is among those concerns that contributes maximum to air pollution in Bengaluru. Data indicates that 60-70% of the emissions is said to originate from vehicles. This makes the city the only one in India to be most impacted by vehicular…

This article is supported by SVP Cities of India Fellowship Travel. The word conjures a myriad of images. Glorious sunsets, exotic locations, fascinating culture... Similarly “travel in Bengaluru” also has many images associated with it, though none of them are terribly complimentary - in fact they sound quite nightmarish. The vehicle population has grown faster than in any other city. Recent reports mentioned how Bengaluru has breached the 77 lakh mark - with 54 lakh two wheelers and 15 lakh cars. Graph Source: WRI Bengaluru is the fifth largest metropolitan city in India in terms of population but just second…

Even as the gentle city of soft, light breezes, namma Bengaluru, is getting gritty with particulate matter, there seems to be a disconnect between the citizen and the data. What exactly is blowing around? Is it possible to sense and detect the quality of air? How does Bangalore rate in the Air Quality Index (AQI)? Not too good. It has been found that the biggest air pollutant in the city is particulate matter (PM), specifically PM10 and PM2.5. These are tiny, irritant suspensions in the air that tend to enter and cause respiratory and even cardiovascular diseases. In 2015, Greenpeace…

Bengaluru's air quality crisis, unlike that in the cities of the north, is a silent one; most online ambient stations which provide information to the public paint a fairly clean picture of the city’s air, though most of its citizens feel otherwise. In an effort to understand the palpable pollution levels in the air we breathe, in comparison to the ambient data being generated by the KSPCB, Co Media Lab and Climate Trends carried out a 7-day air quality monitoring exercise with the help of a low-cost monitor used to measure personalised exposure levels. The activity was spread over a…

Air pollution has always been a mainstream concern with an underwhelming response towards remediating the situation. More recently, the interest has been re-ignited in India with several Indian cities having the highest levels of air pollution in the world. In addition, a report estimates over 650,000 deaths in India in 2015 due to outdoor (ambient) air pollution alone, and an even higher number due to indoor air pollution (1.2 million). These are only mortality estimates, and the impact on morbidity is a lot more widespread. News articles on air pollution and its impacts in Bengaluru are usually based on studies…

Festival of lights turns a health hazard for children, pets and adults every year. Pic: Shree D N Deepawali/Diwali is around the corner and there is excitement in the air. Advertisements are everywhere filling billboards, newspapers, televisions and radios. People are busy shopping for clothes, lamps, fire crackers and puja material. A majority of us look forward to the festival of lights. For children it that time of the year when they get to burst fire crackers. Some love to be adventurous and burst bombs and not the milder crackers, flower pots or sparklers. Some want to feel heroic so…

Pic: Mayur Channagere If you are someone who rides a bike for more than four hours in Bengaluru every day, there’s a significant chance that you will develop Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD, which makes breathing difficult, is a leading cause of disability and death globally; it is irreversible and worsens over time. The conclusion is from a study on 100 non-smokers in Bengaluru aged 25-40 years, who commute to work by bike. Given the worsening traffic jams in the city, the number of people riding bikes for over four hours per day could be quite high. But respiratory…

Bengaluru is in the grip of rising air pollution. Official ambient air quality monitoring has already shown 57% increase in particulate matter in just 4 years (2010-2014) and 23% in one year (2013-14- 2014-15). In more than 85% of monitoring locations the levels have exceeded standards. CSE exposure monitoring has provided clinching evidence of alarming dose that an average Bangalorean breathes on a daily basis in different parts of the city – 3 to 12 times higher than the ambient level recorded by official monitors. With growing vehicle numbers and resultant congestion and dieselisation, air pollution is a growing concern…