Pollution lens on major cities before, during & after Diwali

Guwahati: The Pollution Control Board of Assam (PCBA) is set to monitor air and sound quality in the state before, during and post Diwali to measure the level of pollution caused by bursting of firecrackers . The air and sound quality of major cities of the state will be monitored seven days before, two days during and seven days after Diwali. For other districts, the quality will be assessed only during Diwali.Environmental scientist of PCBA, Manoj Saikia, said at three locations of the city — Pandu, Khanapara and Birubari — and in one station each in Silchar and Sivasagar, air quality will be assessed for 15 consecutive days this year. The eight district branches of PCBA will monitor the air quality of the areas under their respective jurisdiction.“These days, apart from checking the presence of regular pollutants like sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and ammonia, the presence of heavy metals like aluminium is also checked as firecrackers contain a significant amount of those elements,” Saikia added.To check the sound pollution also, PCBA has designated three zones — “silent”, “residential” and “commercial”. In these areas, the level of sound pollution will be assessed a day before, during the two days and the day after Diwali. Saikia said, “The area near Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital in Panbazar is being selected as a silent zone, Ganeshguri as the commercial zone and Rihabari as the residential zone.”Appealing to people not to burst crackers, Saikia said in the previous years the air quality dropped from “moderate” to “very poor” after Diwali. “Currently, the air quality in the city is in the ‘moderate’ range, in the moderate range itself people experience breathing difficulties. One can well imagine what the health hazards will be like if the air quality reaches the ‘poor’ stage,” Saikia added.Saikia said, “The Supreme Court directed way back in 2006 to burst crackers only within a stipulated window of 8 pm to 10 pm during Diwali. However, people show little concern in that direction. With about a week in between Diwali, people have already started bursting crackers. To stop this, the law enforcement authorities have to take strict measures.”He said in 2019, the apex court said not to use barium nitrate, which is highly poisonous, in making crackers. Green crackers emit sounds lower than 100 decibel which is not harmful for living beings. However, in the past, these crackers received a lukewarm response from the people.