Recently, the BBMP Additional Commissioner for public health, D Randeep, launched a network of 40 air quality monitoring devices that have been installed across the city. This has been seen as a positive move in controlling the city’s increasing air pollution when it comes to accountability with facts. With construction debris, burning of garbage and vehicular emission on the rise, the problem is only getting worse. But the biggest challenge that Bengaluru faces is that data and standards that have been set by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPB) as normal and okay for us are actually not. City’s air status At 9 am on Monday, the PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) recorded at BWSSB was 443 and for BTM Layout at 8 am it was 225. Both these levels mean an extremely unhealthy air quality which can lead to breathing discomfort and respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. Permissible pollution levels in India are much higher than other countries The PM 2.5 level recorded at BTM Layout by the pollution control board ranged from 68-300, with the average being 136. The pollution board terms this level of as moderate, but when the same amount is compared to the US EPA AQI standards, it reflects that it is an unhealthy level. And that’s not all. Various air monitoring equipment used by activists and others record different levels for the PM 2.5 in the city, which is not in line with the levels shown by the KSPB monitors. Speaking about the issue Naresh Narasimhan says, “It is funny how the pollution level on KSPB’s monitor and my air quality machine did not match at the exact same spot.” Aishwarya Sudhir of a health and environment alliance adds, “In India, we do not follow the standards that are set by WHO (25 ug/m3) or the USA (35 ug/m3). Our permissible standards — 60 ug/m3 — are way higher than theirs. This needs to be calibrated and aligned with the WHO, as what we call ‘moderate’ and ‘satisfactory’ is unhealthy according to WHO standards.” When we asked KSPCB senior environmental officer R Gurumurthy about this, he said, “We will give a recommendation to the Central Pollution Control Board about this and try to get it aligned.” No real-time data given by the KSPCB The latest air quality data available on the KSPB website for Bengaluru is for February 2019; there is no real-time tracking of pollution levels. “How does the February data help in the month of April?” asks Zibi Jamal of Whitefield Rising, who adds, “What is required is real-time data to track the air quality in the city, which should be made available for all to see.” This is why environmentalists have to rely on private equipment to track air quality. Currently, Mapshalli, a non-profit organisation, along with Whitefield Rising, has installed 10 air quality monitors across Whitefield, which give residents access to real-time data.