Amritsar's air quality improves as compared to previous years: Study

Amritsar, August 20

The recent report released by Health Effects Institute on Air Quality and Health in Cities: A State of Global Air Report-2022, puts Delhi and Kolkata as the two most polluted cities in the world.

The report is based on the data collected between 2010-2019. The programme, a collaboration between the Health Effects Institute and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease project, evaluated the air quality in over 7,000 cities across the globe.

In a data analysis of the report shared by Prof Manpreet Singh Bhatti, Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences, GNDU, the city recorded a population-weighted annual average of 55 µg/m3 (2019) and is better than previous years’ values of 76.6 (2018) and 66.3 (2017). Ludhiana showed the highest value of 72.8 µg/m3 (2019) followed by Jalandhar 64.6 µg/m3.

“The study evaluated air quality and health in cities on population-weighted annual average PM2.5 concentration rather than PM2.5 concentration from each ambient air monitoring station. Keeping this in mind, the air quality in the city seems to have undergone improvement. Although, these values are not absolute values, population-weighted annual average concentrations are more accurate estimates of population exposures because they give greater weight to the air pollution experienced where the majority of people live,” explained Dr Bhatti.

The concerns on air quality getting worse in the coming days due to stubble burning and the onset of winter loom large over Punjab. The ambient air quality sensors installed at the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) have been monitoring the air quality of holy city during the day taking into account factors, including population, and weather changes.

To monitor the impact of air pollution on health of larger populations, the GNDU had installed two ambient air quality sensors (PM 2.5) on its campus, in collaboration with Research Institute of Humanity and Nature (RIHN) Kyoto, Japan, specifically to monitor stubble burning in the state. Professor Manpreet Singh Bhatti said: “A team of experts is expected to visit the Guru Nanak Dev University in October this year under the collaboration. While the recent data sounds good, the actual surge in pollutants in the air commences in September-October.”

“The fact is that air quality worsens during the month of October with stubble burning and festivals like Diwali when crackers are burst. In a recent data by Punjab Pollution Control Board on real time air quality data for last week, Amritsar reported annual weighted average of below 50 µg/m3. We are in process to install more such ambient air quality sensors in future,” he added.

Experts to visit gndu in October

• To monitor the impact of air pollution on health of larger populations, the Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) had installed two ambient air quality sensors (Particulate Matter 2.5) on its campus to monitor stubble burning in Punjab
• Prof Manpreet Singh Bhatti, Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences, GNDU, said: “A team of experts is expected to visit the GNDU in October this year. While the recent data sounds good, the actual surge in pollutants in the air begins in September-October”