Rising Ozone Pollution Hits Delhiites, Increases Summer Woes

For people currently living in the national capital, the summer of 2014 is turning out to be a frightening experience. According to a report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the summer pollution curve has taken an ugly turn as ground-level ozone, a highly reactive and harmful gas, has far exceeded the permissible limit.

“With heat wave raging in early June, ozone peaks to dangerous levels. Rising NOx levels and volatile gases in the air, primarily from vehicles, form the recipe for ozone when exposed to intense sunlight and high temperature,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research & advocacy and head of air pollution programme at the CSE.

“Ozone is a serious threat to those suffering from asthma and respiratory problems, and can cause premature deaths if it is high even for a short duration during the day,” she added.

CSE warned that Delhi needs to act fast to reduce the cocktail of gases that form ozone in the air.
A study of real-time air quality data for the duration of January-early June, available from the key monitoring locations of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, shows rapid build-up of ozone and more frequent violation of standards during the period under review.
According to the CSE experts, the extreme heat waves are threatening to increase the frequency of days with unhealthy levels of ozone, coupled with serious public health consequences.

“Ozone is the new-generation public health threat and a difficult challenge. It must be curbed at the early stages with stringent controls on nitrogen oxide and toxic and volatile gases,” said Roychowdhury.

“While ozone levels are rising steadily with the onset of summer, it doubled up very quickly as soon as the heat wave hit Delhi in the first week of June.
The average temperature has increased rapidly from 35°C on June 1 to more than 44°C on June 6. As a result, the ozone level shot up 87% in Civil Lines, 171% in Punjabi Bagh, 315% at Mandir Marg and 82% at IGI airport within a week,’’ the CSE report added.

Experts suggest that people suffering from chronic respiratory problems should stay indoors and drink a lot of fluids and electrolytes. (Image: The Times of India)