Ambient air quality and air pollution index of Sambalpur: a major town in Eastern India

Periodic and continuous monitoring of the air pollutants becomes a very important activity for all researchers worldwide. In Sambalpur, one of the major towns in the Western flanks of Odisha State in Eastern India, a work was envisaged to measure the gaseous and particulate pollutants and compute the air pollution index (API) at four representative sampling stations (Budharaja, Modipara, Sakhipara and Kacheri) based on the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), New Delhi. The gaseous pollutants were analyzed by passing them through their respective absorbing reagents, while the particulate pollutants were studied gravimetrically for a period of 1 year (August 2015-July 2016) with a frequency of twice per week. The results revealed that the gaseous pollutants (NO2 from 14.64 to 19.19 and SO2 from 3.22 to 5.29 mu g/m(3)) are well within the National Permissible Standards, but the particulate matters (PM10 from 67.34 to 95.08 and PM2.5 from 36.38 to 64.00 mu g/m(3)) are above the annual permissible limit set by the CPCB. Therefore, the API fluctuated between 37.94 and 57.30. Meteorology and wind rose had some role to play in the pollutant dispersal and dilution, besides being aided by the topography and anthropogenic activities of the area. The air quality of the area swung from light air pollution to moderate air pollution condition, which is primarily attributed to the particulate matters (PM10 and PM2.5). Therefore, continuous, periodic monitoring with attention to source reduction in these pollutants and green belt development are the need of the hour.