PMC report card: Pollution, No. of vehicles rise; grade falls

As against 26,66,488 vehicles that plied on city roads in 2013-14, a total of 28,70,281 hit the city traffic in 2014-15, registering a rise of 2,03,793.

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Two-wheelers turned up as the main reason, with their numbers rising from 19,96,435 in 2014 to 21,52,911 in 2015. Cars followed the two-wheelers second, by increasing their number count from 4,21,065 to 4,57,698 (rise of 36,633), while three-wheeler autorickshaws trailed behind by coming out 2,550 more in number than their count of 45,004 in 2014.

Increased vehicles on road meant more sulphur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide being released in the air, with Hadapsar area showing rise of both while Navi Peth recording only the latter.

The noise pollution, too, saw a significant rise in the entire city even as it crossed the 55 decibel limit in residential area. The sound level crossed its limit in areas around hospitals and schools despite the PMC’s claims that it has taken adequate measures.

While the water pollution in the cities water bodies registered a fall, improvement as expected by the PMC in light of the “steps” taken by it in the last few years remained a pipedream, with Mutha river showing an increase in its pollution level.

The report puts Pune’s overall assessment in the environment performance index as having “slightly decreased”. Out of 1,000 marks, the PMC got 708 in 2014-15, a fall from 708.3 it got the previous year.

The basic infrastructure has shown improvement with a score of 211.5 out of 250 marks. The score measuring the city’s growth gave it 114.5 out of 250 and the status of resources declined to 246 as against 253.2 recorded the previous year.

The civic body has been continuing with its efforts of environment conservation, which saw its rating registering an increase from 135.6 to 136 points in 2014-15.