Rain battered roads now throw up dust

According to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board data, the pollution caused by respirable particulate matter of 10 micron size (PM10) has gone up while the level of other pollutants such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide remains unchanged.

TNPCB, which monitors city's ambient air quality in five locations, has recorded an increase in PM10 concentration in air in Kilpauk and T. Nagar. According to the data, Kilpauk locality had recorded a PM10 concentration of 101 microgram per cubic metre on December 14 and it went up to 130 microgram per cubic metre on December 16. The permissible limit of PM10 is 100 microgram per cubic metre.

In T Nagar, the PM10 concentration touched 107microgram /cubic metre. However, the PM10 concentration in both the localities were well within the permissible limits in October and was much lesser in November, when the city witnessed routine spells of rains.

A senior TNPCB official attributed the increase in particulate matter concentration in the air to the road dust. "In the city, road dust along with vehicular emission is the major source of pollution," the official said, adding that the continuous movement of heavy traffic on the rain battered roads are leading to high level of finer dust pollution.

"During monsoon season, moisture and wetness keep the dust pollution down. Once the rain stops and sun starts blazing, fine dust starts floating," the official said. Keeping the roads clean would help reduce pollution. "Like in some Western Countries, the corporation should use water to prevent dust flying in the air," he said.

K. Saravanan, a resident of ICF, said that driving to his office in Egmore on New Avadi Road is a nightmare. "The stretch from Anna Nagar to Kilpauk is severely damaged. There are lot of potholes on the road but poor visibility caused by dust makes driving even more difficult," he said.

Several stretches of roads maintained by the Highways department and Chennai Corporation have been severely damaged in the recent flood and it requires immediate relaying. Traffic snarls have become a regular feature on the stretch between Ashok Pillar and Ekaduthangal on the arterial Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, said T. Anthony, working in an IT company in Olympia TechPark in Guindy.

"Vehicles moving at snail's pace in rain battered road leads to traffic snarls. Besides, the vehicular emission along with road dust causes eye irritation and sore throat for motorists," he said.