Jaipur Experiences Significant Increase in Pollution Levels

On one hand, the city of Jaipur is moving fast towards metropolitan cities-alike development with the introduction of Jaipur Metro, the rise of startups and its journey towards becoming one of India’s first 20 ‘Smart Cities’. But at the same time, Jaipur’s situation is not so good in terms of pollution, as per the recently-released pollution reports by World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO’s recently released report on pollution says that Jaipur has 2.5 microns of diameter (PM2.5) concentration of 68 micro-grams particulate matter per meter cube. However, the values for particulate matter should have been 10 micro-grams per meter cube for PM2.5, as per WHO guidelines.

Rajasthan’s 5 Cities in the list of cities with Poor Air Quality

The report also reveals that the situation of Rajasthan’s 5 prominent cities, namely, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Alwar, Udaipur and Kota, isn’t very encouraging when talking of pollution.

Reason Behind Jaipur’s Increasing Pollution Levels

One major source of the increasing pollution in Jaipur is the considerable increase in number of vehicles in the city in the past 5 years. Though the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board has been encouraging people to use bicycles to commute, most of them are using four-wheelers. According to stats shared by RTO, around 500 new non-commercial vehicles get registered in Jaipur, which include both two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Some 1.25 lakh new non-commercial vehicles have hit the Jaipur roads in the past 5 years. These vehicles emit pollutants, which are badly affecting the environment and giving rise to health problems.

Increasing Pollution – a Risk for Health

The concentration of harmful gases such as Nitrogen, Carbon monoxide and Sulphur dioxide is considerably rising in the air. Along with these, air pollution consists of many other pollutants and particulate matter as well. These particles are efficient of penetrating deep into the respiratory tract, generating a risk of respiratory infections and diseases.  It is necessary to gain a control over this situation so as make the city a safer place to live in.