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Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Diseases due to air pollution in metropolitan cities, 02/05/2016

Question raised in Rajya Sabha on Diseases due to air pollution in metropolitan cities, 02/05/2016. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has been regularly carrying out air quality monitoring under the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) since 1984, for three air pollutants viz., Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM10) at all the identified locations. The NAMP network presently comprises of 614 operating monitoring stations located in 254 cities/towns in 29 States and 5 Union Territories across the country. The analysis of available air quality data of 41 million plus cities suggests that the concentration of SO2 in all 41 cities are within the prescribed National Ambient Air Quality ( NAAQS) annual standard of 50 µg/m3. 9 out of 41 cities, (namely Delhi, Faridabad, Howrah, Kalyan-Dombivali, Kolkata, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Navi Mumbai and Thane) exceed the annual NAAQS of 40 µg/m3 in respect of Oxides of Nitrogen and 38 cities out of 41 cities do not comply with the annual NAAQS of 60 µg/m3 with regard to Particulate Matter (PM10).