KOCHI: The haziness in the mornings since November has got Kochiites worried, with questions being raised as to the quality of air in the city. If PM 2.5 values as presented by private agencies like AQI.in are to be believed, then Kochi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) is poor, with data ranging from 110 in the start of November to 149 on Friday. However, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) pooh-poohs these values and claims to have recorded values that cite Kochi’s AQI as satisfactory.
However, residents do not agree with the PCB claim. “How can they cite values when the monitoring stations are not functioning?” asked Manaf, an environmental activist at Eloor. He pointed out how the monitoring stations at Vyttila, Eloor, and MG Road in Ernakulam have not been recording data for quite some time. “These monitoring stations seem to come to life only when some incident happens,” he alleged.
As per the data sourced from AQI.in, and Accuweather.com, Kochi’s AQI stood at 90 on Friday. However, the values were 137, 144, and 141 on December 4, 3, and 2. But why has the AQI been on the higher side? According to environmental experts, this might be because of the drop in temperature.
“Usually, this phenomenon happens in December. But this year, the early advent of the cold air from the poles has led to a drop in the land temperatures in the South. Another factor that led to the drop in the temperature was Cyclone Ditwah. So, once the surface cools, humidity increases, and condensation happens.
This will lead to the formation of mist, and once the dust particles in the air mix with the mist, smog is formed. Then there is the presence of ground-level ozone as a pollutant. With no wind to disperse these pollutants, they get trapped in the moisture,” said Dr Abhilash S, Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Cochin University of Science and Technology. He said the dust particles from the construction works happening in the city would be contributing to the increase.
Meanwhile, KSPCB chairperson Sreekala S said the PCB has been monitoring the air quality in the city regularly, though the stations have been defunct. “We have been doing the monitoring manually at all the stations across the district.
It has only been a few days since the defunct monitoring stations stopped working because the contract with the firm that maintained them ended. New tenders have been floated, and they will be repaired soon,” she told TNIE.