Kochi’s air quality was better than Thiruvananthapuram in first half of 2020

KOCHI: While the lockdown cast a shadow over people’s lives and livelihood, the same came as a blessing in disguise for the city as the air quality during the period has improved a lot. Even while compared Thiruvananthapuram, the city had air quality during the lockdown from May to July than in the earlier months of the year from February to April.

Based on a study conducted during the lockdown period, Ambee, a clean-tech start-up focused on pollution monitoring, has released the data. Ambee builds comprehensive systems for air quality monitoring and offers real-time data to a granular level – updated every few minutes for the neighbourhood at a postcode level. 

The study covered important locations across Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram from February to July 2020.  Kochi consistently recorded air quality between 45 and 50 in May, June and July whereas the air quality in Thiruvananthapuram was between 55 and 65. 

The average AQI in Kochi during May – July was 48.6 versus Thiruvananthapuram’s which was 59.75. In stark contrast to the immediately preceding months, including the early lockdown phase, the AQI in Kochi during February–April was 83.11 and that of Thiruvananthapuram was 89.18.

The Air Quality Index measures the particulate matter and levels of other gases in the air. Air Quality Index measures from 0 to 500, the lower the number, the better the quality of air.“Besides air quality levels, Ambee measures several air quality parameters and pollutants, including those that are considered by multiple government agencies AQI measurements.Ambee’s multimodal approach and its array of sensors measure air quality, particulate matter, volatile organic compounds, temperature, humidityenvironmental factors,” said an official with Ambee.