Air in Hyderabad cleaner after Diwali than it was last year: Pollution Control Board

Hyderabad: The air in the city after Diwali was cleaner than it was last year, the TS Pollution Control Board confirmed on Monday. The board had studied the air and noise pollution levels before, on the day of the festival, and post-Diwali.

The board said that the concentration of Particulate Matter 2.5 and 10 (PM2.5 and PM10) had increased marginally when compared to a seven-day average before the festival.

“The wind speed was higher than during Diwali last year, which helped in the dispersion of pollutants. The major pollutants were particulate matter of less than 2.5 and 10 microns in thickness,” an official of the board said.

While, the board had recorded 64 microns/ cubic metre of PM2.5 on the day of the festival, it was 72 microns/m3 last year. Similarly, PM10, was recorded at 128 microns/ m3 this year against 163.4 microns/m3 last year.

When it comes to chemicals in the air, the board had recorded, 8.4 microns/ m3 on Diwali this year while it was 6 microns/m3 last year. The board said oxides of nitrogen were recorded at 65 microns/ m3 last year which had reduced to 41.3 microns/ m3 this year.

Apart from having comparatively cleaner air, the sounds levels in the city were within the permissible limits.

The highest noise level was 70 decibels in commercial zones. The lowest noise level was 42 decibels in sensitive zones. The permissible decibel levels at sensitive, commercial, industrial, and residential zones are 50, 65, 75 and 55 decibels, respectively.

“There is a decrease in the noise levels during the day which may be attributed to decreased activity owing to a holiday, while at night there was a marginal increase when compared to normal day,” a report from the board said.