COLOMBO AIR QUALITY IMPROVING: CEA
The unexpected condition of air pollution which engulfed Colombo at least for two consecutive days has now dissipated and the quality of air is improving, The Central Environmental Authorities (CEA) Deputy Director of Laboratory Services, Kamal Priyantha said.
The US Embassy’s Air Quality Monitor in Colombo indicated unhealthy values of air quality with 167 Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded by 10 pm on Tuesday last week.
Speaking to The Daily Mirror, Mr. Priyantha said the air pollution in Colombo had no effect on the everyday life of the general public.
He requested the public not to panic with the condition of polluted air as now the condition has returned to normalcy.
“It is deemed that this condition had occurred as a result of air pollutants that swept across with winds from the Northern hemisphere near the equator,” he said.
When analyzing the Air Quality Index (AQI), the Central Environmental Authority uses methods in accordance with the international standards and data are collected from the Air Quality Monitoring Units consisting ultramodern technological analyses which were purchased in line with Vehicle Emission Testing Programme.
These units are situated in Battaramulla and Kandy. Measuring instruments in those Monitoring Units automatically analyse and compile the mean concentration of five air pollutants every 5 minutes, 1 hour, 8 hours and 24 hours respectively.
Additionally, they provide daily measures on atmospheric temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall.
Condition of atmospheric pollution in Battaramulla and Kandy can be explained based on the daily measures obtained by the CEA.
Accordingly, the AQI of Battaramulla on November 05 and 06 was respectively 68 and 67 and suspended air particles (PM10) below 10 micrometers (μm) were identified as related air pollutants.
The AQI of Kandy on the same days was 56 and 74 and suspended air particles (PM10) below 10 micrometers (μm) were identified as related air pollutants. That identification, when compared with this year’s Air Quality Index data is noticeably higher, however it will not cause considerable effect on health conditions.
This is considered an average condition of pollution. In such a situation, highly sensitive people are likely to be affected slightly. However, the AQI is further expected to be reduced within the next few days.
“The rise of air pollution in the Colombo city was recorded high in the machine installed in Battaramulla,” he said.
The CEA admitted the fact that there was an increasing trend in the air pollution which has now reached normalcy.
Mr.priyantha added the reason for the level of air quality to be unhealthy was unknown.
He said they were working in collaboration with the Department of Meteorology in order to conduct further investigations to discover the real cause behind the increase of AQI on November 05 and 06.
“With the association of the Disaster Management Centre, gas emission conditions will be continuously announced. Since AQI and suspended particles emission levels tend to be decreasing, the current situation is expected to be dissipated. It depends on the changes of the weather conditions, especially the wind patterns. The CEA will take necessary steps to inform the public immediately if any change occurred,” he added.
Necessary steps to be taken to inform the public immediately if any change occurs Gas emission conditions to be announced continuously