Kochi to take on air pollution

KOCHI: In the wake of Delhi smog, the Clean Air Asia - an international not for profit organisation, which leads the Asia wide mission for better air quality in urban areas in association with Kochi Corporation and Kochi Metro Rail Limited has organized a stakeholder consultation which discussed various strategies to tackle the increasing air pollution.  During the discussions, it has been pointed out that based on the Clean Air Scorecard kit (CAST) Kochi requires three new continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations. 

Clean Air Asia has already completed assessment of Air Quality Management of Kochi. The city is part of the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) network, which aims at understanding the trends of ambient air in the city. As per the recent findings, the highest level of particulate matter smaller than 10 micro-metres (PM10) was observed at Ernakulam South followed by MG Road. The highest nitrogen oxide readings were recorded at FACT Udyogamandal and Eloor respectively.

“We treat air as a free commodity and hence not bothered of it. The fact is that the air quality in Kochi is deteriorating on alarming rate. It is time high time that we take initiative to make a difference and improve the ambient air quality standards,” said Mayor Soumini Jain.

The multi stakeholder consultation aimed at providing a platform to bring in experts who can support the development of a Clean Air Action Plan and establish a long-term cooperation platform for stakeholders to implement effective programmes and policies on the grou9nd. During the consultations, it has been observed that new projects like Kochi Metro and the proposed Water Metro are in the right direction for sustainable transport solutions which will help to reduce air pollution.