Air quality a serious concern in Haryana, says GJUST study

Tribune News Service

Advertisement

Hisar, September 7

The whole year round, a study conducted by the Environment Science Department of the Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology has revealed that the increasing air pollution in Haryana has become a serious concern and the seasonal practice of crop residue burning is adding to pollution.

The results of the study showed a considerable seasonal variation in the concentration of all pollutants in Haryana.

The pollutant peaks in the post-monsoon season — October-December, followed by winters. PM10 and PM2.5 increased by around 65–112% and 131–147% in the post-monsoon season compared to monsoons, which are usually considered clean seasons in terms of air quality as atmospheric pollutants are washed out by the rain in the season, revealed the study.

The satellite-based fire counts and source apportionment shows a significant influence of crop residue burning in the post-monsoon season and solid biomass burning (cow-dung cake, woods, etc.) during winters on Haryana’s air quality. The particulate matter, which is usually considered as a proxy of air pollution, have annual mean PM10 concentration in Zones-1, 2, and 3 as 156, 174, and 143 /per cubic meter air/ (µgm-3), whereas for PM2.5 as 71, 85, and 78µg m-3, informed Prof Narsi Ram Bishnoi, one of the leading authors of the research paper from the GJUST said.

Prof Bishnoi said seasonal variation in ambient air quality for 14 parameters, i.e., particulate matter (PM), trace gases, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), along with meteorological parameters, was studied. To understand spatial variation of pollutants, ambient air quality data of 23 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) in 21 districts of the Haryana was studied for 2019 where districts were divided into three zones based on ecology and cropping pattern. In all districts of Haryana, the annual mean of particulate matter, i.e., PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, was much higher than the national ambient air quality standards.