Choking (in) the garden city
Updated: Jun 10, 2020
Air Quality study to assess composition of PM2.5 in the air at 27 strategic community based sites, representative of varied spatial typologies and neighbourhoods across Bengaluru.
Location: Bengaluru
Partner: Healthy Energy Initiative (HEI)
Duration of study: April 2019 - Nov 2019
Status: Completed
The purpose of the study is to understand what are the various contributors to air pollution at a local level, and how do they differ from one place to another based on land use, road hierarchies and other variables. Given that the data is local, the idea is that citizens would better relate to issues specific to their site / street / neighbourhood / ward while also reflecting on issues that are clearly prevalent across sites and therefore require city wide action. At each of the 27 sites, a sample was taken for a duration of 24-hours using pre- weighted Teflon filters fitted to a low volume air sampler – MiniVol Air Metrics (S/N 7506). All samples were analysed for the presence of PM2.5 and heavy metals at the Chester LabNet2, a laboratory based in Oregon, USA. The laboratory tested the samples using the US EPA approved techniques namely gravimetry technique and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) technique. The monitoring was done in two segments - April to July and then again from September to November, with a break due to monsoon.
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