Dehradun among top 10 most polluted cities in India

Once upon a time, there was a deep relationship between Dehradun and serenity. Due to its clean climate, and negligible traffic it was also called the city of retired people. Trees laden with mango-litchi and the fields swaying with crops was a common sight. Then in the year 2000, Uttarakhand became a separate state and Dehradun was the capital. After this, the distance between Dehradun and peace increased in an uncontrolled race for urbanization. The population has increased by more than 40 percent and the number of vehicles is going to touch the figure of nine lakhs at a rate of more than 300 percent. Most of all this affected the clean air here, in which the amount of respirable suspended particulate matter (respirable solid suspended particles) i.e. PM-10 and 2.5 has increased by four times the standard.

The oldest average figures on the website of the Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Board are of the year 2008 and the PM-10 situation was less than half that of today (116 micrograms per cubic meter). Talking about the latest data, between January 2019 to October 2019, the maximum amount of PM-10 has been found to be more than 240 micrograms per cubic meter, while on an annual average, this quantity should not exceed 60. Similarly, the presence of particles whose PM-2.5 should not exceed 40 on an annual basis has also been found to be a maximum of 117 micrograms per cubic meter in the air. The amount of polluting particles dissolved in the air indicates how fast the air pollution graph is growing. If it is not curbed in time, it will not take long from here, for Dehradun to match Delhi in terms of pollution.

Maximum pollution in ISBT area

The Environmental Protection and Pollution Control Board investigates air pollution (PM-10 and PM-2.5 particles) in Ghantaghar, Raipur Road, ISBT area in Doon. If we look at the data from January 2019 to October, the maximum level of air pollution in the ISBT area has been found to be four times. In other areas also, air pollution is much higher than the standard, but its figure is limited to around three times.

Dehradun status in top cities in report put in Parliament (end of 2017)