Air quality too, to be monitored at five spots, during Deepavali

It’s a busy time of year for officials of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB). A week head of Deepavali, they have begun measuring levels of noise and ambient air quality at five places in the city. Monitoring stations have been established in thickly-populated areas like Besant Nagar, T. Nagar, Sowcarpet, Nungambakkam and Triplicane to collect dust samples before, during and after the festival. According to an official, noise levels will be recorded for six hours every evening and pollution levels, every 24 hours from 6 a.m.

Air quality registers a marginal improvement

Having gasped for breath for nearly a week now, Delhiites breathed slightly easy on Tuesday with the air quality registering a marginal improvement. But deteriorating air quality and the dense smog that had enveloped the Capital for the past few days has prompted environmentalists to demand that urgent measures be put in place to reduce air pollution in the city.

Delhiites will have to settle for a smog-ridden Diwali this year. The thick haze that has settled over the city is not expected to dissipate in the coming week. Dr L.S. Rathore, director general of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), said, “A low density dust-ridden fog has spread its tentacles across the city. A combination of cyclone Nilam pumping moisture into the atmosphere, falling temperature and the presence of pollutants has created this smog cover.”

“With no horizontal or vertical mechanism like long strong winds to blow it away, we expect it to hover over the city for the next 5-6 days,” Mr Rathore explained. Doctors warn that Delhites are choking on Delhi’s air much before Diwali.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection has urged local authorities to be more transparent when providing information related to the environment, especially data regarding potentially hazardous co

Despite marked improvement of the transparency of China's air quality data over the past year, academics and NGOs suggest the government can make better use of real-time air pollution reports.

PANJIM: Goa State Pollution Control Board’s (GSPCB) records indicate that the pollution levels in Vasco have come down tremendously after a stop in coal handling by Mormugao Port Trust at its berth number 10 and 11, since the last week of September.

GSPCB has captured the dust pollution at six ambient air quality monitoring stations installed across Vasco town. The records reveal that the pollution levels have dropped down drastically improving the quality of air in the port town.

China has been racing to meet the objectives set in its revised air quality standards, including promoting the use of an index for PM2.5, or fine particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter.

MUMBAI: Bumper-to-bumper traffic in Mumbai is not only pushing up citizens' frustration levels, it is also increasing vehicular emissions on key routes in the city by 33% to 75% during peak traffic

Coal handling operations at the Vasco Port have been found to be polluting the town, forcing the pollution control board authorities to issue a show cause notice to the port trust.