In 2017, Lucknow had only 17 days of ‘good quality’ air

Alarming--There were 70 days when the city had ‘safe category’ air, says study.

In 2017, there were only 17 days when Lucknowites breathed ‘good’ quality air while there were 70 days when city folks had ‘safe category’ air.

People in the state capital had ‘bad’ air quality for 277 days (76%) last year and 170 of these days (61%) saw relatively high levels of pollution – ‘poor to severe’ category. Only 70 days (19%) were under the ‘satisfactory’ category.

These are the findings of Centre for Environment and Energy Development (CEED) that compiled the data sheet of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily reading for Lucknow’s air quality in 2017.

In November and December 2017, Lucknow’s air was not less than toxic smoke and was found under ‘very poor’ to ‘Severe+’ category for 61 consecutive days.

Ramapati Kumar, CEO of CEED said, “The air pollution in the city is a serious problem, with serious threat of particulate matter (PM2.5) concentration.”

The purpose of the report is to summarise the ambient air quality of Lucknow in 2017 and to investigate the level of exposure of air pollution. Data from the CPCB real-time monitoring stations was used and further analyzed using varied statistical tools and techniques, he said.

Elaborating on the findings, Ankita Jyoti, senior programme officer of CEED said, “According to CPCB’s daily air quality bulletin, November 14 was the most polluted. The report highlighted November as the most polluted month, while July was found least polluted.”

“The state government should chalk out an affirmative clean air action plan with a time-bound implementation strategy to prevent perennial air pollution episodes. The action plan identifies a set of action priorities as per emission source, recognised regulations, and also includes institutional arrangement that will set it on track to mitigate pollution,” suggested Kumar.