Hyderabad: Hyderabad may be counted among the developed cities in the country but its ecosystem seems to be covered with a layer of soot.
Reports on pollution levels spread over the past one decade say that nothing has been done to improve the ecosystem that supports over 1 crore citizens.
For instance, particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) are the fifth most death-causing factor globally, as per a report by State of Global Air. So, how does Hyderabad fare on PM parameters? Reports suggest that all is not well, but the situation has improved marginally in some areas.
The air quality monitoring system at Sanathnagar has been functioning since 2004. A study of the annual reports between 2007 and 2017 shows that air pollution has remained stagnant or increased in most areas. In 2008, PM10 was measured at 148, according to a report by International Journal of Research in Science, Engineering and Technology. In 2017, it averaged at 144, as per TSPCB figures (up to April this year). The most dramatic change was in Cyberabad, where the PM10 level jumped from 43 to 124.
This side of the city has seen infrastructural development on over 200 hectares of land. Environmentalists say they aren’t surprised.
B.V. Subba Rao, an environmentalist who had worked on the Outer Ring Road project and presently works on Bengaluru’s Bellandur Lake, says, “When you disregard the master plan and allow builders to build anywhere, especially near industrial areas, pollution is inevitable.”
Others say that the increase in PM10 and PM2.5 levels cannot be blamed only on policy loopholes. Motor vehicles are considered the biggest emitters of particulate matter, releasing about 60 per cent of the total share.
RTA data suggests that up to 800 vehicles are added to the roads every day, taking the number of vehicles to over 27 lakh as of January 2017.
The increase of over 10 lakh vehicles in 10 years can clearly be linked to the increase in ambient particulate matter.
“We are busy blaming Trump, but what has India done to cut its emissions to 35 per cent?” wondered Mr Rao.
