Weather woes add to poor air quality, trigger breathing discomfort and cough in Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: The air quality of major Madhya Pradesh cities including the city of lakes Bhopal was poor which means breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. The air quality of major cities barring Indore was not just poor, but was close to the very poor mark, prolonged exposure of which can lead to respiratory illness.

Among the three cities- Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur, the air quality index ranged between 250 and 300. The air quality of Indore was 120, which means breathing discomfort to the people with lungs, asthma and heart diseases. As one of the reasons for the bad air quality, the officials point people burn tyres and plastic during cold nights. It led to pollution levels going up.

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Experts pointed out that the weather also plays a role in the air quality. Meteorological department, Bhopal circle officials said, during this time of the year northerly winds from Punjab and Delhi blows over the state due to which the air quality index of MP cities could go up to 20 per cent. Second reason is that air pollutants come closer when the temperature falls. From the mid troposphere, it comes to the low troposphere, which leads to an increase in pollution levels.

Officials said, damaged roads, flying dust from vehicles and increase in construction activities after showers leads to increase in the pollution levels. Besides, bonfires during winters lead to air pollution. Dust gets heavy in showers and does not fly in the air. The vehicular pollution also gets down as tyres could not lead to flying of pollutants and dust in air, as it settles down on ground. It is the reason why pollution levels come down during rains, officials added.

Air quality is measured taking into account the levels of sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (Nox), RSPM10 and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air. Of the four, officials said, PM2.5 is the most harmful to health and causes severe lung diseases. PM 10 is due to dust, construction, including building of roads while PM2.5 is due to dust, human activity and climatic conditions.


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