ES 200 2nd MODULE

1st ASSIGNMENT
Yamala Gnan Chand
190010071

C) Write a Blog/Note-to-the-Press as to what is needed in your city for air quality management
i. The review/studying of (a) above will give you a perspective of the concerns and the
approaches taken for control and mitigation for air quality management (AQM) across
large cities in the world.

• Reference Paper:- https://indjst.org/articles/assessment-of-air-quality-index-of-coimbatore-city-in-

tamil-nadu

• Coimbatore is a industrial hub in Tamil Nadu. As per a study conducted in the above reference,
there are about 1.2 vehicles in the city and 20+ lakh people live here. The city totally has about
30,000 small and medium industries, large textile units due to which Coimbatore is famously known
as the Manchester of South India.

• Majority of the air pollution is due to the following 3 sources

o Industrial Emissions: especially due to foundry companies

o Secondly it is due to automobile emissions
o Thirdly is due to smoke arising from garbage dump.

Sources of Air Pollution Contribution (%)

Industrial Emissions 72
Automobile Emissions 23
Smoke from Garbage 3
Others 2

•TEOM (Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance): Air is sucked in through a sampling

head, which stops large particles entering the device (eg. A PM10 sampling head will only
allow particles with a diameter less than or equal to 10 microns). It is sued when a specific
PM needs to be segregated

• Laser remote sensors: Measures both airborne aerosols and gas across wide are directly
without need for sampling.

• Suspended Dust concentration meters: Gas concentration meters introduce the air sample
to the measuring equipment and thereby measure the concentration of the target substance
directly.
 • Optical Particle Counters: Uses light scattering to measure and count the particles

• Condensation Particle Counters: Uses isopropyl alcohol or butanol to magnify the particles
which allows easier detection of particles. This method can be used for particles that are
very small that it escapes the optical counters.

ii. With this perspective now available to you, as the person In-Charge of AQM in your city,
customize it for your city. You can look up historical data for your city (or a large city
closest to your home city), and look for any reports for air pollution control measures
being proposed.

For example, 129 cities (of population > 10 lakhs) have been identified under the
NCAP. Here is a report from NCAP:

https://moef.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/NCAP_Report.pdf

Please go ahead and use other resources (for India or other countries) available on
the web. Please make sure you include the references at the end of your write-up.

• My hometown is Coimbatore, in Tamil Nadu. The nearest Air Quality Monitoring station is
Kurichi.
• The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) are considered for the
residential/industrial/rural/other areas category: (Source).

• Observed readings show that annual average in Coimbatore is within the limits
recommended as per NAAQS concentration standards. But the particulate matter
concentrations are above 90% which is worrisome.
Finding volume of air inhaled in an year.
 ▪ Breathing rate = 7.5 l/min
o 1 l = 10-3 m3
1
o 1 min = year
365∗24∗60
o 1 l/min = 525.6 m3/year
Breathing rate = 3942 m3/year

▪ Annual average of PM10 = 57 μg/m3

o Mass of PM10 per year = 3942 * 57 μg
= 0.224694 g

▪ Annual average of PM2.5 = 37 μg/m3

o Mass of PM2.5 per year = 3942 * 37 μg
= 0.145854 g
Assumptions from reference
 Radius of PM10 = 5 μm
 Radius of PM2.5 = 1.3μm
 Density = 1.65 * 106 g/m3
4
Volume of PM10 = 3 𝜋𝑟 3
= 523.59878 * 10-18 m3
4
Volume of PM2.5 = 𝜋𝑟 3
3
=9.20277 * 10-18 m3
Mass of one particle of x = density * volume
PM10 = 8.6337 * 10-10g
PM2.5 = 0151846*10-10g
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑑
No of particles inhaled = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑒

0.224694
No of PM10 inhaled =
8.63937∗10−10

= 260 * 106

No of PM2.5 particles inhaled = 605*106

• Paper reference:

o https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11869-018-0617-x.pdf
o o http://www.yorku.ca/bunchmj/ICEH/proceedings/Palanivel_M_ICEH_paper
s_322to327.pdf

• Site reference: https://urbanemissions.info/india-apna/coimbatore-india/

Pollutant Concentration in Coimbatore Concentration in Coimbatore

(µg/m3) Annual Average (2013) (µg/m3) Annual Average (2019)
(µg/m3) (µg/m3)

Sulphur Dioxide 5 7
(SO2)
Oxides of Nitrogen 11 18
(NO2)
Particulate Matter 78 57
(PM10)
Particulate Matter 30 37
(PM2.5)
• Except PM10 the concentration of all the pollutants has increased

• The increase in PM2.5 is mostly due to construction of new industries, malls, brick kilns and
agriculture activities.

• Continuous increase in Foundries is a major concern, although the emissions are within limits the
number of industries are increasing rapidly every year

• It has been observed that petrol-fuelled vehicles are the main source of PM and CO, while NOx,
SO2, and PM mainly originate from heavy-duty diesel-fuelled vehicles

• In the period 2010-2020 existing National Highways were extended and new highways were
constructed, and the vehicle transportation within the city has drastically increased. Hence the
increase in Sulphur and Nitrogen oxide emissions

• There has not been any sources to comment on the wind change and meteorological factors
 iii. You are welcome to include any unresolved issues, which, if resolved, would make the
proposed AQM plan for your city more robust and effective

From the tables above, particulate matter are the major concern for Coimbatore. If I was the
district administrator I would implement:-

• For foundries and industrial firms:-

o Even though all the air pollutant released from foundries are within the
limits, the industrial location and increase in number of industries year
by year in Coimbatore may be adding up to the load of impact on human
health. Hence a separate zone for industrial sector needs to be planned and
constructed
o This sector needs strict monitoring and regulations that keep the emissions
confined to a particular area which can be treated before the finally
emitting into the atmosphere
o New policy to incentivize emission reduction – Foundries that produce
wastes less than a certain threshold can be given electricity or other
resources at subsidized cost. This will encourage less emissions

• Smoke from garbage

o There has been numerous news reports that wastes from nearby districts
and states are often dumped around the city. Strict action and measure
needs to be taken against these players
o Frequent waste collection from house holds can be ensured to ensure that
wastes are not dumped or piled up in a single place.

• Automobiles

o Policy change:
 Since there are quite a number of toll booths in Coimbatore
cars with lesser emission certificates can be charged low at the
tolls
o Subsidize the purchase of electric cars and provide funds to build electric
stations for re-charging the cars