Air pollution is choking Bengaluru; how bad is it?

Data shows Bengaluru is short of 41 air monitoring stations for an accurate representation of its pollution problem.

Every month sees high spikes in pollution levels, with hourly averages equivalent to smoking 5 cigarettes a day. Some parts of the city are particularly worse. In 2015, the pollution at levels at BTM showed it was roughly equivalent to smoking 23 cigarettes (more than a pack) a day.

Although there are several pollutants that are measured for tabulating the air quality of a city, the most harmful pollution consists of small particulate matter, 2.5 microns in size or less, called PM2.5. Research by Berkley Earth estimates that 1 cigarette is equivalent to an air pollution (PM2.5) of 22 μg/m3 for one day.

India’s burden

In 2015, around 11 lakh deaths in India (roughly 10.6% of all deaths in India) were due to air pollution according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, released in January 2018. The same year 10 lakh people in India died of smoking, according to WHO estimates.

The medical journal Lancet ranks India as the country with the highest number of pollution-related deaths, followed by China. The study projects that by 2030 nearly 17 lakh people will die of air pollution and by 2050, the number will rise to 36 lakh. Put another way, air pollution in India will soon become deadlier than smoking. Currently, the two kill nearly equal number of people.

PM 2.5 is inhaled into our lungs and is small enough to enter the bloodstream. According to WHO, short-term or long-term exposure to PM2.5 can cause respiratory and cardiovascular issues, such as aggravation of asthma, respiratory trouble and an increase in hospital admissions, and deaths from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and from lung cancer

How does Bengaluru fare?

By 2030, the percentage increase in PM2.5 in the city will be about 53%. according to projections by UrbanEmissions.

Urban Emissions study of 2015 data showed that Bengaluru's air quality is not significant better when better compared to tier 1 and tier 2 cities such as Pune, Bhopal, Nagpur, Kochi, Jaipur, Indore, Chennai, Agra, Kanpur, Dehradun, Bhubhaneshwar, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Ludhiana, Raipur, Amritsar, Patna and Chandigarh.

The study showed that Bengaluru topped in CO2 emissions and ranked fourth in PM 2.5 levels and eighth in sulfur dioxide (SO2) levels while alternating between the second and third rank as the city with the most emissions of other type of pollutants like PM 10, black carbon (BC), organic carbon (OC) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

How bad is it?

Currently air quality data is measured by KSPCB with around 20 stations, a combination of automated and manual ones. Urban Emissions suggests that, for its population, Bengaluru is currently short of the 41 air monitoring stations it needs for an accurate representation of its pollution problem.

Ronak Sutaria, founder of Urban Sciences points out how the number of government run real time/continuous ambient air quality monitors are woefully inadequate.

Bengaluru plans to set up air quality monitoring equipment in different parts of the city with Mayor Sampath Raj co chairing C40's new Air Quality Network; this needs to be implemented at the earliest.