State board contests WHO report on Patna pollution

Patna: The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has contested the recent air pollution report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) which listed Patna as the sixth most polluted city in the world. Four Indian cities — Gwalior, Allahabad, Raipur and Patna — were in the WHO’s list of top ten most polluted cities in the world. Iranian city Zabol was on top of the list with worst polluted air.
BSPCB chairman Dr Subash Chandra Singh said, “The WHO report is based on the 2012-13 data. The present condition is, however, totally different.”
He said the BSPCB contests the report based on the present condition. “The aforesaid status is based on the level of PM10 of Patna during 2012-13. The level of PM2.5 was observed 121.90 µg/M3 during 2012-13 as per the BSPCB record, instead of 149.0 µg/M3 as reported by WHO. In the present condition, the ranking of Patna may vary with this deviation in data,” he said.
“The WHO has ranked Patna 62nd based on the status of PM10 (167.0 µg/M3) of 2012-13 and 6th on the status of PM2.5 (149 µg/M3),” he said, adding “As per the BPSCB, in the present condition (April 2016), we are sure that the ranking would be somewhere between 65-70, and not sixth.”
According to the chairman, the level of PM2.5 has been observed 76.1 µg/M3 during April and the level of the same has been observed between 77.38 to 66.25 µg/M3 from May 9, 2016 to May 12, 2016, which is very close to the prescribed standards. It is to be noted that daily standards for PM2.5 is 60 µg/M3.
To improve the air quality, the board had issued guidelines to the government departments and agencies to ensure ambient air quality in the city.
The BSPCB has decided not to grant consent-to-establish (CTE) new bricks kiln in five blocks of Patna Sadar, Danapur, Phulwarisharif, Maner and Fatuha of Patna district and to convert the existing bricks kilns into new cleaner technology by August 31 this year.
New protocol for waste disposal is that covered carriers should be used, nothing should be burned in public place and stop plying of commercial vehicles more than 15 years old.