Bengaluru kids more exposed to toxic air

Citizen-action groups take up cause in a city whose particulate pollution levels in the morning are alarming

If you are travelling in an open vehicle during peak traffic hours daily in Bengaluru, you are likely to be exposed to severe toxic air. And school-goers are among the worst affected, a report warned yesterday.

Between 8.30am and 10.30am, the particulate pollution levels between Banashankari to Marathahalli varied from 70-800 micrograms per cubic metre, an alarming high, says the report, ‘Bengaluru’s Rising Air Quality Crisis: The Need for Sustained Reportage and Action’, by independent environmental researcher Aishwarya Sudhir.

But why is Bengaluru gridlocked? With an existing fleet of seven million vehicles, nearly 900 new vehicles are added to the Bengaluru’s roads every day.

Worsening the problem, says the report, is illegal dumping of waste mixed with mass untreated sewage.

The city generates around 4,500 to 5,000 tonnes of waste per day, by conservative estimates. The state capital, often referred as India’s Silicon Valley because of its information technology hub, has had its challenges with outdated waste collection, segregation and transportation system, which often results in toxic emissions.

The city has 10 online monitoring stations, of which five were introduced in January with an additional feature to generate Air Quality Index.

The five new stations are in Hebbal, Jayanagar, Kavika, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences and Silk Board.

Taking up the cudgels to check the alarming pollution levels, the report says residents of Whitefield Rising in Mahadevapura in November last year tested the air quality in the morning in their locality.

Observed air quality levels exceeded safety limits by more than five times, says the report.

Sudhir, who is based in Bengaluru, told IANS that the residents initiated a daily activity to clean up roads by hiring a vacuum cleaner.

Co Media Lab Director Pinky Chandran told IANS that unlike New Delhi and other cities, Bengaluru fortunately has many citizen-action groups that are championing the cause of clean air.