GHAZIABAD: A report by an IIT Roorkee team has found the pollution levels in Ghaziabad to be consistently high in the past five years. The team was hired by the Ghaziabad development Agency (GDA) to suggest measures to deal with the pollution issue in the city.According to the report, the average PM10 concentration in residential areas between 2013 and 2017 was found to be 4 to 4.3 times higher than National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) 2009. The NAAQS for PM10 is 60 µg/m3. And the annual mean concentration of PM10 in 2017 in residential areas was 8.6 times higher than NAAQS.“This clearly shows that PM10 level rose in 2017, which could be attributed to higher dust pollution due to various infrastructure projects going on in Ghaziabad,” said a GDA official.The preliminary report, which has been prepared after collating data procured from various departments, has also found the annual mean five-year concentration of SO2 and NO2 levels to be high in both residential and industrial areas.As far as SO2 and NO2 area concerned, the annual mean concentration for the last five years were found to be 1.4 and 2 times higher respectively than NAAQS 2009 standard.Apart from industrial and dust pollution, vehicular emissions also significantly contributes to air pooltion and as per data in the report, only 17% of four-wheel public vehicles in Ghaziabad is CNG-operated while the rest run on diesel. Similarly, 64% of total buses on city’s roads run on diesel.Some measures suggested by team includes immediate ban on diesel autorikshaws and buses. These vehicles shouls be replaced by e-rickshaws and CNG buses with immediate effect. Solid fuel being used by industries also needs to be replaced by cleaner fuel such as CNG, LPG etc, says the report.

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