Air, river, noise pollution in Pune fall by unprecedented levels: PMC report

Shutting down of commercial establishments, offices, hotels has reduced sewage generation

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) carried out a scientific study of the impact of lockdown on Mula-Mutha river, noise and air pollution and found out that the city has performed exceedingly well and the readings are even better than those recommended by the central pollution control board (CPCB).

The report found out that the city has performed exceedingly well and the readings are even better than those recommended by the central pollution control board (CPCB). (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

According to environment officer Mangesh Dighe, the PMC carried out this survey in March and April, and some of the data was collected till May 15. “We have received surprising results and Mutha river quality is getting improved drastically and some parameters are better than the norms given by CPCB,” Dighe said.

“There are three parameters that show the water quality in a river. First is the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), secondly the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and thirdly the dissolved oxygen (DO). In all the three parameters there is a drastic improvement and BOD and COD have come down below the CPCB parameters. The main reason for this is commercial establishments, offices, hotels have closed down so the sewage generation has reduced,” Dighe added.

Before March 2020, the BOD level was 61.61 in Mula-Mutha river which came down to 32.09 in April during the lockdown. The COD level was 159.68 before lockdown which came down by 67.7 per cent.

“The pollution control board expects it below 150 but it came down drastically. The dissolved oxygen level improved from 3.19 to 4.6 which is good. If all these levels are maintained, the river would remain clean and pollution-free,” Dighe said.

Like the river, there is also an improvement in noise pollution. Noise levels in the city have come down in all the three categories which are commercial, residential and silence zones. The noise level came down below those prescribed by the pollution board.

Dighe said, “As the number of vehicles on the road has come down in the city during lockdown, the air quality has improved drastically. PMC collected data from the Indian institute of tropical meteorology (IITM) and found that on all parameters there is an improvement in the air quality of the city.”