Chandigarh invites bids for pollution audit, eyes carbon neutral tag by 2030

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, July 14

To make the city carbon neutral by 2030, the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) will conduct an audit to study the causes of rise in air pollution levels in the city and accordingly take remedial steps.

Under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme of the Union Government, the CPCC has invited bids to carry out source apportionment, emission inventory and capacity study on the levels and sources of pollution in the UT. The study will be completed in 18 months from the date of placement of work.

Highest vehicular density in city

• City has highest density of vehicles in country with a fleet of vehicles over 2 per capita household
• Experts say there is a need to undertake real-life emission inventories to curb pollution

Major contributors

• Vehicular density
• Roadside dust
• Burning of dry leaves
• Litter from trees and gardens
• Operation of generator sets
• Stubble burning in periphery

Being landlocked, the city has the highest density of vehicles in the country with a fleet of vehicles over 2 per capita household. Earlier studies have shown that the air quality in Chandigarh is mostly affected by vehicular pollution.

The major contributors of air pollution in the city include vehicular density, roadside dust, burning of dry leaves, litter from trees and gardens, operation of generator sets in certain areas adjoining the city and stubble burning in specific seasons of the year in neighbouring areas. Air quality data generated over the years has reveal that particulate matter concentrations are exceeding standard permissible limits in the city.

An official said there was a need to undertake real-life emission inventories and source apportionment studies based on realistic emission factors and vehicle utilisation factors for reliable analysis of the current scenario due to multiplicity and complexity of air polluting sources, including industries, automobiles, generator sets, burning of fuel and construction activities in the city.

He said the apportionment of these sources indicating their contribution to ambient air pollution was vital for planning cost-effective control strategies.

The source apportionment study would focus on apportionment of respirable particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) being most critical. The outcome of the study would be required as input to source apportionment studies performed for Chandigarh. Since, the air quality in the city is affected by a variety of complex sources, a detailed scientific study is required for identification of major sources, assessing their contributions to air pollution and suggest mitigation measures taking into consideration the techno-economic feasibility and other social factors.

The study will profile ground level concentration (GLC) of air pollutants in different parts of the city, including background, residential, commercial/mixed areas and source specific hotspots.

The study will help in developing emission factors (EF) for different categories of vehicles with due consideration to variations in fuel quality, technology, size and vintage of sources, control systems, etc.

It will also help select appropriate mission factors for other non-vehicular sources such as industries, industrial and domestic fuel combustions, roadside dust, construction activities, generator sets, etc.

During the study, an inventory will be prepared for different air pollutants, their emission rates and pollution loads from various sources