A study finds that PM10 emissions in Rajkot are significantly lower compared to the other two cities in Gujarat.
One would think that Rajkot, the hub of small and medium industries (SMEs) in Gujarat, would be highly polluted.
Interestingly, the level of PM10 emissions in the city are far lower than in Ahmedabad and Surat.
PM10 emissions refer to pollutants that emit particulate matter of less than 10 micrometers in size (PM10). This surprising trend was revealed after a study titled 'Urban Air Pollution and Co-benefits Analysis in India' published recently for six Indian cities - Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Pune, Indore and Chennai.
Of these cities three are from Gujarat, and of these Rajkot accounts for the least PM10 emissions. The PM10 emission for the year 2010 for Rajkot was 14,000 ton compared to 19,950 ton and 35,100 ton for Surat and Ahmedabad respectively.
The study conducted by UrbanEmissions.Info a Delhi-based research group, also found that the mortality per ton of PM10 was also the least in Rajkot (0.02) across all the six cities. It was 0.06 for Surat and 0.14 for Ahmedabad.
However, Sarath Guttikunda, founder of UrbanEmissions.Info, has a word of caution.
"Even though the PM10 emissions in Rajkot are lower compared to other cities, it in no way means that the concentration of pollution is less in the city," said Guttikunda.
On why Rajkot scored better on other counts compared to the rest of the five cities, Guttikunda said it is because it is a small city viz-a-viz Ahmedabad or Surat.
"Surat and Ahmedabad have large industries and the fleet of vehicles is larger. While Rajkot may have a higher concentration of SMEs, vehicles on roads are less compared to other cities," he said.
"Hence when you say the estimated premature death in Rajkot, going by the PM10 level is 300, it is indeed less compared to Ahmedabad (4950) and Surat (1250). But one should also remember that the population for these cities is different and the figures should be seen viz-a-viz the population and not in isolation," said Guttikunda.
He further said that the city may see a rise in PM10 emissions if number of vehicles continues to rise and efforts are not put in to reduce emissions by other means.
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