MPCB monitoring noise levels across 14 locations; air quality may turn from moderate to poor: SAFAR
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has, in an impassioned appeal, urged citizens to celebrate a pollution-free and environment-friendly Diwali this year without the use of firecrackers. The board has, instead, requested the residents to gift a plant to their loved ones and sign a pledge to conserve the environment.
Meanwhile, with noise pollution due to fire crackers during Diwali identified as one of the major contributors to noise pollution, the board, as part of its annual exercise, will monitor decibel levels at 14 sites in Pune.
“We have tested the decibel levels of 14 varieties of commercially available fire crackers this year and several have been found within the permissible range,” Pratap Jagtap, sub-regional officer, MPCB for Pune, told The Indian Express. He also said that awareness campaigns have been carried out to ensure that noise levels are not exceeded.
Of the 14 locations that are being monitored since October 21, 11 are in the city and three at Pimpri Chinchwad. The locations where noise levels are being monitored include Shivaji Nagar, Karve Road, Satara Road, Swargate, Yerawada, Khadki, Shaniwarwada, Laxmi Road, Sarasbaug, Aundh gaon, University road, Deluxe chowk at Pimpri, Chafekar chowk at Chinchwad, Dange chowk at Thergaon and others.
Air quality may turn from moderate to poor this Diwali: SAFAR
This Diwali, air quality may turn from moderate to poor starting midnight October 24 till October 25 if the firecracker emissions are double than that of last year. “The quality of air may slip from moderate to poor,” Dr Gufran Beig, founder-project director of System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), has said.
“Pune’s Air Quality Index (AQI) has started deteriorating from good to satisfactory already. In case there is no rain and the amount of fire crackers burnt is 25 per cent higher than last year, air quality will slip,” Dr Beig, who is the Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee Chair Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, IISc, Bengaluru, said. The Air Quality Forecast for the Diwali-2022 period for Pune is issued based on the indigenously developed SAFAR-Air Quality Forecasting Framework.
Pune Warrior Moms urge Maharashtra govt to act against toxic air pollution
An eco-friendly Diwali celebration is nothing but celebrating the festival in a way that it causes no harm to our ecosystem, said Anuja Bali, coordinator of the Pune group of Warrior Moms — a collective of mothers from across the country with various city level branches who are fighting for children’s right to breathe clean air.
“Even green crackers contain the banned chemical barium. We have to educate children about the harm of inhaling these chemical fumes,” Bali said. The Warrior Moms have urged Maharashtra government to take a strict stand on causes of toxic air pollution.
