Ambient Air Quality Status in the Twin Cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

Abstract

Ambient air quality was monitored with respect to dust particles like Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), particulate matter of size less than 10µ (PM10), particulate matter of size less than 2.5µ (PM2.5), gaseous pollutants like sulfur dioxide (SO2), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOX), Ozone (O3) and Ammonia (NH3) at eight selected locations in the cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack for a period of one year on seasonal basis. The data obtained was further analyzed to assess the seasonal variation, maximum-minimum value, annual average value, standard deviation and Air Quality Index (AQI). From the analysis it was observed that during winter, the concentration of particulate matter like SPM, PM10 and PM2.5 remained above the prescribed limits at all locations in both the cities. The concentration of both particulate matter and gaseous pollutants were considered for computation of AQI at each monitoring location. From the AQI data it was observed that Cuttack is more polluted compared to Bhubaneswar. In Cuttack, seven locations were in the heavily polluted category except at one place, CDA colony, which is in the polluted category. In Bhubaneswar, only two locations were in the heavily polluted category whereas, four locations were in the polluted category and rest two are in moderately polluted category. These findings clearly indicate that traffic network, road conditions, density of population and frequency of vehicle movement are the prominent factors responsible for poor air quality in both the cities.

Keywords: AQI, SPM, SO2, NOX, NH3, O3