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Clean
Air ? - No Where!
Nishant Bharadwaj I ndia is a developing country and has witnessed phenomenal growth in many sectors. However, this growth has been accompanied by an alarming deterioration in air, water and soil quality. Rapid and unplanned urbanization and industrialization, compounded by decreasing green cover has led to a deterioration in the urban air quality. Due to the non-exclusive nature of air pollution, even the innocents are victims of this catastrophe. Air pollution causes pronounced damage to the health of living beings. In humans, it can range from asthma to cancer to disabled children.Vehicular pollution is the main culprit in the deteriorating air quality, especially in metropolitan cities. In India, the number of vehicles has increased from 1,865000 in 1971 to 252,999000 in 1993 . What makes things worse is that 48.8 percent of these vehicles are concentrated in metropolitan cities. Industrialisation, though a key component of modern development, is another root cause of air pollution. Thus, there is a need to find the right way to blend technology, environment, and progress. The control of air pollutants requires reliable and timely information about the status of the influencing variables. In order to know about the air quality and its impact on human health, we first need to assess the quality of air through a proper Air Quality Monitoring Program. With the aim of educating people, creating awareness and taking remedial actions to improve the air quality, Development Alternatives has launched an Air Quality Monitoring Programme as part of CLEAN. The aim of this programme is: · To determine the nature and source of pollution plus status and trends in the ambient air quality.· To ascertain whether the prescribed national air quality standards are being met or violated.In this programme, school children and other participants will be trained to test the air quality using an indigenously designed kit called Pawan Tara. The training programme empowers the trainees in terms of addressing the problem of air pollution at the school level as well as individual level. The primary focus of the programme is to provide a vision and understanding about air pollution and related problems. It not only acquaints the students with environmental problems but also provides them hands-on experience in handling instruments, chemicals and carrying out social research. The role of children in protection of environment is of crucial significance, not only because they are our future citizens, but because their very survival is linked to the health of their environs.. The objectives of CLEAN in involving students in "Air Quality Monitoring" are:· To acquaint the students with environmental problems and characteristics of their local environment by giving them a ‘hands-on ‘ experience in chemical, biological and social research.· To involve children as prime agents for catalysing community participation and nurture responsible citizenship among the people of the city.Air quality monitoring will be initiated in Delhi in July 1999. School children will monitor the air quality of Delhi in around 100 locations, including major traffic junctions, industrial areas, residential areas, market places, commercial complexes and public places. For monitoring the air quality, Delhi is divided into twelve zones. A school in one particular zone will be responsible for monitoring the air quality of that zone. Air quality monitoring is not an issue-based one-time programme but an on-going process. This programme will involve monitoring the air quality seasonally. Similarly, air quality monitoring programme will be initiated in all the major cities throughout the country under the CLEAN programme. Selection of sites will be on the basis of traffic density, industrial activities, commercial activities, green cover and local air-related problems.
What is Pawan TARA? With the Pledge of improving the quality of air, the environmental scientists at Development Alternatives have designed a low volume air sampling kit called Pawan TARA. Pawan TARA is so simple to operate that the quality of air could be checked even by school children. This kit is much more efficient than other brands of commercially available low volume samplers in the market. Pawan TARA is compact, portable, easy to operate and cost effective. Pawan TARA can test three parameter namely -Respirable Particulate Matter (RPM), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and Oxides of nitrogen (NOx). q
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