Guwahati, Mar 20: The Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA) has termed the Swiss air quality technology company’s report, listing Guwahati as the second most polluted city in Central and South Asia, as “misleading”.
“There has been a misleading report in regards to air quality of Guwahati city. As per the report, Guwahati has been listed as second most polluted city in Central and South Asia by IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology organisation, reportedly based on average PM2.5 concentration in the year 2023,” Shantanu Kumar Dutta, member secretary of Pollution Control Board, Assam (PCBA), clarified in a statement issued here on Wednesday.
“The agency reported PM2.5 concentration in Guwahati for 2023 as high as 105.40g/m³, which is reportedly the second highest concentration for the regional cities in Central and South Asian countries. In the same IQAir report, the average PM2.5 concentration in Delhi has been reported as 92.7μg/m³ and as such the reported value of PM2.5 in Guwahati (105.4 µg/m³) is more than that of Delhi,” Dutta said.
“These misleading reports are causing panic among the people in the state. The PCBA hereby clarifies that there is no need to panic as the air pollution level (PM 2.5 concentration) in Guwahati is absolutely under control,” he said.
Notably, PCBA monitors the ambient air quality in Guwahati round the clock for 365 days through sophisticated Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) at four locations –PCBA headquarters. at Bamunimaidam; Cotton University; Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and IIT-Guwahati.
The data generated from these CAAQM stations are recorded by Central Pollution Control Board, under ministry of environment and forest and climate change, and one can access these data online at https.airquality.cpcb.gov.in/AQI India.
The technology used in these CAAQM stations is approved by USEPA (United States Environment Protection Agency) and Government of India.
“The record of air quality data of Guwahati generated from these CAAQM stations reflects average monthly PM2.5 concentration at 52.8 µg/m³ in 2023 with maximum concentration (98.3 µg/m³) and minimum concentration (22.62 µg/m³) recorded in July, 2023 and January 2023 respectively,” the PCBA official informed.
From the record, the average PM2.5 concentration in the year 2022 in Guwahati city was 52.61 µg/m³. “These data contradict the report of IQAir, whose data source is not known. As per the IQAir report, the average PM2.5 concentration in Guwahati for the year 2023 has been reported as 105.40g/m³, which is almost reported at 200 percent more than the actual recorded value by the central government through CPCB and state boards,” Dutta said.
The PCBA, he said, has meanwhile informed the central government and Assam government about the misleading data published by Air in its report “2023 World Air Quality Report-Region & City PM2.5 Ranking”.
“It may also be mentioned here that very poor quality (as portrayed by the IQAir report and highlighted by the media) air would have far-reaching manifestation in normal life, activities of citizens, health of citizens, etc., which have not been observed anywhere in Guwahati. PCBA requested the citizens of Guwahati to carry out their normal activities without any fear and dismiss such unscientific and absurd reports,” the PCBA official said.