Hyderabad going the Delhi way

Hyderabad: For the past few years, the air quality in Hyderabad has shown a noticeable decline, fluctuating between moderate and poor categories. It is high time the administration wakes up and takes necessary preventive and corrective measures lest it could become another Delhi where the Air Quality Index (AQI) level is 65 times higher than the WHO guidelines. At present, Hyderabad is currently 12.9 times more than WHO’s annual air quality guideline value. AQI is not just about carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide or any pollutant gas. Even these gases tend to get absorbed by the water droplets, causing the AQI value to shoot up during this time of the year.

Generally, AQI index is considered to be good if it is 0-50, moderate if it is 51-100 and unhealthy if it is 101-150. A real time index on Sunday shows that the AQI near Hyderabad US Consulate is 159, Sanathnagar 134, ICRISAT-Patancheru 131. It is unsatisfactory in Bollaram Industrial Area and IDA Jeedimetla. Officials claim that the reason for such a situation was the congested roads that lead to the accumulation of dust across the city and vehicle exhaust accounts for about 30% of particulate pollution. Diesel vehicles are another major concern.

Experts also say that road dust is another significant contributor to air pollution, accounting for 30-45% of particulate pollution.

While stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana contribute to high levels of air pollution in Delhi, garbage burning in many residential areas and landfills along the roadside are notable reasons for the AQI turning unhealthy in Hyderabad.

A study by Hans India revealed that people of Mansoorabad and its surrounding areas are battling with serious air quality concerns due to the continuous burning of garbage and chemical effluents emanating from the nearby industrial areas.

The residents of these areas pointed out that burning of trash takes place in every nook and corner of Mansoorabad, Auto Nagar and its nearby localities particularly during night hours. The smoke is so thick that it is visible even in the darkness and toxic chemicals oozing from industries make the situation worse leading to breathing problems. Despite several complaints, neither the pollution control board nor the GHMC have taken any action. As a result, the air quality of Mansoorabad is 156 which is unhealthy.

Even garbage collection is not done in a scientific manner. Added to that construction debris and waste from street vendors leads to unhealthy AQI. People say that local associations, NGOs, government officials should collaborate to educate the public about responsible waste disposal and the authorities should also take coordinated action to keep the city clean and green. Mere slogans won’t help, experts say.

Emphasising the need of an environment protection authority, environmentalist Prof Purushotham Reddy stated that there is an urgent need for an environment protection authority for India as in several European countries and the US. After the Bhopal gas incident in 1984, the Central government came up with Environment Protection Act in 1986 but did not constitute any authority to implement the Act. If the Environment Protection Authority is implemented, it can monitor the situation. State Pollution Control Boards in the country have miserably failed to monitor the situation, he added.