Air quality check not enough; need usable data, say experts

BENGALURU: The city has more than one pollution problem. Beyond just the high air pollution levels, there is a problem in the understanding of its urgency and finding solutions.

In its roadmap for 2017, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has ambitious plans. Its chairman Lakshman said the Board is setting up five more ambient air quality monitoring stations. It is acquiring more sophisticated equipment as well.This is apart from tree plantation and more stringent directives, which may or may not be accepted by the government.

Experts, however, say education and citizen participation will do better than such expensive projects. Reason: there is very little data and even little understanding of the levels of air pollution in the city and what it means to its people.

Pulmonologist Dr H Paramesh, chairman, Lakeside Center for Health Promotion, said that air pollution is an alarming health risk because it does not just affect the respiratory tract.

"The pollutants enter the bloodstream, causing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, among other problems." Its psychosocial effects are also not to be ignored, the doctor said: "It disturbs sleep, affecting the productivity of people and 60% of asthma and allergy patients were found to have mental health issues."

Educating the public and authorities is key, he said, adding that doctors need to study and discuss the prevention of these health risks instead of curing them.

That brings us to our next problem: lack of data.

Data from the 12 existing ambient air quality monitoring stations in Bengaluru are lacking in many ways. "One of the things that is missing is hyper local data," according to Ankit Bhargava, cofounder, Sensing Local, an organisation working on environmental issues.

"KSPCB captures ambient (overall) air pollution. But your exposure level -what you are inhaling -is local and it changes every metre," he said. The amount of pollutants one inhales inside an autorickshaw in slow-moving traffic could be twice or thrice the official figure.

Further, usability of data is as important as the availability of it.Air quality index on each road of the city at various points of the day could help people make better personal choices.

To collect this level of detailed data, crowdsourcing it from slightly lower-end but reliable sensors turns out cheaper and more effective as found in citizen-driven projects. "The PCB needs to fund, encourage and incubate independent organisations and citizen efforts to collect data that are now happening in silos," said Bhargava.

Growing City, Worsening Air

A 2017 study of global air quality released recently made an alarming observation: India is on the way to overtaking China as having the deadliest air quality in the world. As one of the fastest growing cities with over 66 lakh vehicles, Bengaluru's air is worsening every day.