Air Pollution in Vishakhapatnam Leading to Cough, Allergies, Skin Rashes and Fevers

“Pollution in this area makes life hell for residents. There is no pure air to breathe. We very often suffer from cough, allergies, skin rashes and fevers,” Jyoti says pointing at coal dust accumulated at various places in front of the shop.

Link to the article @ The Hindu

 

Jyoti, seventh standard student of Fort Catholic Girls’ School, sits at the pan kiosk whenever she is free to support her mother to eke out a living. The shop has a thick layer of dust. Her feelings reflect the mood, by and large, of the residents of Old Town, once the main hub of Visakhapatnam. Contacted at random by a team from The Hindu, many belonging to Kota Veedhi, Vada Veedhi, Soldierpet and other areas said they were suffering a lot due to pollution though the impact has come down to some extent.

Mechanisation of some berths, construction of a soccer-stadium-type wall around the dusty cargo handling areas and sprinkling system to prevent flying of coal and iron dust by air are cited as some of the reasons for reduction of pollution to some extent. “It’s better than the past but it will be good if the port stops pollution for good,” said Joseph, a welder in Bothra Company.

Seething with anger over pollution, some of the sufferers said they would not allow the candidates to canvass in their areas seeking vote for them. “We will support only those who pledge to fight against port pollution,” said B. Raju, contract worker of a bank. “They (port officials) are asking us to vacate and take alternative land from the port. Where will we go? We were born and brought up here,” he said.

Lavanya, 10 standard student from Shining Star Little Garden School, said “our quality of life will improve if steps are taken to stop pollution.”

Adilakshmi, a home-maker, said pollution of any kind was nothing but slow-poisoning. Hence, many like Lavanya look for good days ahead by containing pollution completely.

SIM-air Model for Air Pollution Analysis in Three More Cities in India

From the UNEP-LCMP program news letter - August, 2013

In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO), presented air quality data for particulate pollution in 1100 cities, and listed 27 cities from India as amongst the top 100 cities with the worst air quality. For most cities in India (and in Asia), the transport sector is identified as one of the leading causes of premature mortality and increasing number of morbidity cases.

Among the transport indicators evaluated for the development of Low-carbon Comprehensive Mobility Plans (LCMPs), and following a stakeholder consultation process, it was determined that urban air quality should be included as one of the city level indicators in the project. These indicators will be studied within the current year, based on the data collected from the surveys, and also used to account for future business as usual projections and low carbon scenarios (with projections up to 2050).

Passenger travel patterns; city infrastructure; and transport planning models were all important aspects of producing geo-referenced information on travel demand across the city. This is a rich information dataset, which can be very useful as input for transport emissions modeling and urban air quality analysis. The urban transport information database also included results and information on technology transitions related to vehicle efficiencies and the carbon intensity of electricity, adapted from scenario studies conducted at the national level.

The SIM-air family of tools was utilised within the project, resulting in estimates of key parameters, such as total emissions (other than the road transport emissions calculated under the LCMP project), and consequently allow for the simulation of the interactions between emissions, pollution dispersion, impacts, and management options in an environmental and economic context.

Participants from LCMP SIM-air tools training

The SIM-air family of tools are integrated, free, plug & play in nature; they also benefit from being modular, where the user can breakdown the tools to individual components (by sectors) to evaluate the emissions and the pollution control interventions.

These tools were previously applied for studying air quality management in various cities in Asia. Within the scope of the project, the SIM-air model will be used in three cities – Rajkot (State: Gujarat), Vishakhapatnam (State: Andhra Pradesh) and Udaipur (State: Rajasthan); and training on its use was also provided to consultants from the three cities in March 2013, in New Delhi, India.