COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE

Wellesly Road, Shivajinagar, Pune – 411005

Aditya.U.Manolkar
B.Tech E&TC
[Publish Date] MIS#: 111607041

Q1. Factors contributing to Urban pollution in India

In India, urbanization has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past 40 years. During the
last 50 years, the urban population of India has grown nearly five times (around 400 million
people live in cities, in sharp contrast to 60 million in 1947).
The increasing population results in rapid consumption of energy and other resources, which is
contributing to urban pollution.
 Pollution from Solid Waste and Wastewater in Indian Urban Areas
1. Urbanization, inadequate treatment capacity, and disposal of untreated wastes cause
severe pollution in urban and peri‐urban areas.
2. Use of such waste water loaded surface water as irrigation has resulted in the
significant build‐up of heavy metals in soils of agricultural land near several cities and
towns of India.
3. Different polluted materials are also discharged into sewage due to higher
industrialization in residential areas, leading to environmental pollution.

The types and sources of heavy metals are as follows:

1. Chromium (Cr)–Mining, industrial coolants, chromium salts manufacturing, leather
tanning.
2. Lead (Pb) – Lead acid batteries, paints, e-waste, smelting operations, coal‐based
thermal power plants, ceramics, bangle industry.
3. Mercury (Hg) – Chlor‐alkali plants, thermal power plants, fluorescent lamps, hospital
waste, electrical appliances, and so on.
4. Arsenic (As) – Geogenic/natural processes, smelting operations, thermal power
plants, and fuel.
5. Copper (Cu) – Mining, electroplating, and smelting operations
6. Vanadium (Va) – Spent catalyst and sulphuric acid plant
7. Nickel (Ni) – Smelting operations, thermal power plants, and battery industry
8. Cadmium (Cd) – Zinc smelting, waste batteries, e‐waste, paint sludge, incinerations,
and fuel combustion
9. Molybdenum (Mo) – Spent catalyst Zinc (Zn) smelting and electroplating.

 Air pollution in Urban Areas of India

1. The air quality index of million plus cities of India showed that >50% of cities have
moderate to poor air quality.
2. Tall buildings in urban areas form ‘street canyon like conditions’ and hinder dispersal of
air pollutants in these areas. Roadside trash burning is also a factor that influences air
quality throughout India.

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 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE
Wellesly Road, Shivajinagar, Pune – 411005
Aditya.U.Manolkar
MIS#: 111607041

3. Vehicles, road dust, and cooking using solid fuel are the key urban sources of air
pollution. Motor vehicles are increasingly vital contributors of anthropogenic CO2 and other
greenhouse gases (GHGs).
4. Major air pollutants in Indian urban areas are sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter,
and nitrogen oxides (NOx). High O3 concentration has been recorded in Delhi, with a
maximum of over 600 μg per cubic meter.
5. Major sources of GHG are deforestation, power generation (burning of fossil fuels),
transportation (burning of fossil fuel), agriculture (livestock, farming, rice cultivation, and
burning of crop residues), water bodies (wetlands), industry, and urban activities (building,
construction, transport and solid and liquid waste).

 Water pollution in Urban Areas of India

1. Discharge of untreated sewage in water courses, both surface and ground waters, is the
most important water polluting source in India.
2. Thus, of late, every freshwater body (rivers, lakes, and estuaries) is contaminated with
organic and inorganic contaminants. The most harmful elements polluting river water are
organic wastes, minerals, sediments, toxic chemicals, nutrients, and many more.
3. Pollutants are present in groundwater, rivers, and other water bodies. Despite the ban on
dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) in India, residues
of these POPs are extensively distributed, and their traces could be detected in water
bodies in most of areas of India.

 Soil Contamination in Urban Areas of India

1. Rapid industrialization and poor management of industrial effluent is increasing the risk
of heavy metal pollution.
2. Excessive concentrations of heavy metals, that is, Cr, Cd, As, Ni, Se, and Pb, have been
found in soils of agricultural land near cities, mines, and industrial areas around the world.
3. Although a geogenic source of pollution has been observed for some trace elements in
different parts of the world, including India, the secondary sources of anthropogenic
pollution are more dominant, localized, and cause more soil pollution.

 Noise Pollution in Urban Areas of India

1. In India, with expanding vehicular population, traffic noise levels have increased, which
can cause serious health effects.
2. The major sources of noise pollution are road traffic, rail, aircraft noise, construction
noise; noise emitted from industrial infrastructure, honking noise from vehicles, noise
emitted from household appliances, loudspeakers, community processions, and so on.

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 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE
Wellesly Road, Shivajinagar, Pune – 411005
Aditya.U.Manolkar
MIS#: 111607041

Q2. Land use planning for Air pollution control

If a pollution problem can be anticipated early enough, attitudes are still flexible, designs can be
changed and expenditure can be minimized. Since, by its very nature, land use planning is
concerned with the location of new development, planners are in a unique position to
contribute to the prevention of pollution problems.

These techniques for controlling air pollution from new stationary or mobile sources and for
ameliorating the effects of existing air pollution on new receptors can be classified as:

1) Source location and design techniques

There are several of these detailed design techniques available to the planner:

 Siting of industry with respect to topography: It is generally accepted that valley sites
should be avoided wherever possible and that, if development of such sites is essential,
very high chimneys discharging pollutants above the level of inversions are advisable. If
pollution sources are to be constructed in valleys, it is thought preferable to locate them
on the windward slopes of hills rather than the leeward slopes as wind-generated
dispersion is greater.
 Siting of industry with respect to sensitive receptors: The location of industry in
relation to residential areas, schools, hospitals, children's and old people's homes and
intensively used recreational facilities is another effective technique.
 Control of land uses around sources: If an existing stationary source gives rise to
pollution which cannot be effectively controlled or relocated it is possible to limit the
effects of the pollution by controlling the land uses around it.
 Use of buffer zones: The use of buffer zones between industrial uses and sensitive
receptors follows from the notion of separation. Such zones are usually, though not
always, kept free of development and may be dedicated to recreational use.
 Design and arrangement of buildings: Building design may have a considerable effect
upon local concentrations of pollution since local temperatures and winds, the two
principal determinants of atmospheric diffusion, are affected. Two aspects are involved:
the effect of a new building or structure upon airflows and hence the distribution of
pollution from other sources; and the effect of airflow around a building upon the
pollution released by it.
 Use of district heating: Pollution from residential areas, and to some extent from
commercial areas, may be reduced by the use of district heating. District heating utilizes
centralized fuel burning in a limited number of large, efficient and relatively easily

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 COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, PUNE
Wellesly Road, Shivajinagar, Pune – 411005
Aditya.U.Manolkar
MIS#: 111607041

controlled units, rather than the use of multiple low levels, poorly controlled sources of
pollution.

2) Intensity of use of land control techniques

It is apparent that if a city of given population and industrial composition is spread out, allowing
emissions to be dispersed in a larger volume of air; concentrations of air pollutants should be
reduced in comparison with its higher density counterpart.

3) Settlement location and design techniques

The greatest impact on air pollution can obviously be made in the overall design or redesign of
a town or suburb (or in redevelopment programmes) when all these control techniques are
brought together. It has been suggested that the most effective open space strategy is the use
of open wedges or corridors radiating from (or penetrating towards) the centre of a
metropolitan area since almost all development tends to be close to such spaces and the
diffusion of pollutants is consequently enhanced.

4) Settlement size control techniques

It has been suggested that limiting the size of settlements is perhaps that most effective land
use planning tool available. It is therefore apparent that limiting the physical size of a
community, and providing for displaced growth elsewhere in separate settlements should lead
to an overall improvement in air quality.