Is air in Vizag most polluted?
The air a person breathes in Visakhapatnam is the most polluted in South India exposing him to multiple respiratory and other health problems.
image for illustrative purpose
Visakhapatnam: The air a person breathes in Visakhapatnam is the most polluted in South India exposing him to multiple respiratory and other health problems.
The city also often called City of Destiny and Vizag, given the tag of a critically polluted cluster by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for a long time as per its Comprehensive Environmental Pollution Index (CEPI), has now been found as the most polluted city in South India in air pollution, raising public concern. Besides Visakhapatnam, the study was carried out in Hyderabad, Kochi, Mangalore, Bengaluru, Chennai, Amaravati, Puducherry, Coimbatore and Mysore.
Greenpeace India in a recent study found that Visakhapatnam has earned the dubious distinction as the most polluted city in South India. The study found that PM 2.5 and PM 10 (Particulate Matter) values have crossed the safety standards stipulated by the World Health Organisation (WHO) seven times over.
Based on CPCB advice, the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) had earlier finalised a revised action plan to improve pollution emission parameters in the city-the largest industrial and commercial hub in Andhra Pradesh is proposed to be made the executive capital.
The city has a population of 2.26 million.
Mushrooming hazardous units and lack proper mechanism to monitor discharge of industrial effluents into the sea and open handling of coal and iron ore by the Visakhapatnam Port have led to criticism with the National Tribunal Tribunal periodically passing strictures against the authorities concerned to take remedial measures. Leakage of poisonous gas from the storage tank of LG Polymers, a South Korean firm in the city led to death of 12 people and injuries to 500 in 2020 which subsequently led to closure of the plant on court orders.
Greenpeace India collected air pollution samples from November 20, 2020 for a year and analysed it as per the WHO and CPCB guidelines.
Greenpeace India in its report stated that the study found that as per the WHO guidelines, the annual PM (Particulate Matter) 10 value of the air quality standard was set to be 15 µg/m3.
