KOCHI: Experts who monitored the impact of the controlled implosion on air quality in the surrounding areas of Maradu, said the effects were not harmful to health. Though the demolition generated tremendous amount of particulate matter, the impact was limited to 100 m radius of the demolition site. Favourable wind conditions ensured distribution of the dust particles to all sides. The spraying of water by fire tenders after the implosion helped in bringing down the dust.
“The value of particulate matter (PM) increased by 1.75 times after the implosion. However, spraying of water for dust suppression and favourable wind distribution helped limit the impact. It was a successful implosion which has gone as per the script. Though there was a steep increase in PM value immediately after the demolition, the value has come down significantly by evening which points at the settling of dust particles. The wind which was blowing from west to east on Friday was distributed 360 degree on Saturday,” said Mahatma Gandhi University Pro-Vice Chancellor C T Aravindakumar.
A 10-member team led by Aravindakumar has installed air quality monitoring devices outside the demolition zone and they would be monitoring air quality variations for the next three days.
“The particulate matter content in the atmosphere was in the range of 50 to 10 before implosion, which went up to 100 to 160 after the blast, which is not high compared to the air quality in places like Vyttila. We are also monitoring the impact of the implosion on water quality. This will help monitor the possible increase of iron, carbon and silicon content. Samples are being collected from three locations which will be subjected to lab test to monitor the increase in the content of heavy metals and organic chemicals,” he said.
The MG University team had stationed an ambient air quality monitoring van, and used high volume air sampler and automatic PM 2.5 and PM 10 metres to monitor the impact on air quality due to implosion.
“The PM value figures show that the impact of the implosion is limited. However, there are chances of temperature inversion which could cause fog-like conditions on Sunday morning. The presence of suspended particles in the air has to be monitored continuously for a week,” said Nansen Environmental Research Centre India (NERCI) scientist G Bindu.