CHENNAI:
Thoothkudi is the sole city from Tamil Nadu which figures in the list of 100 cities which has high levels of air pollution with the presence of Particulate Matter 10, Sulphur di-oxide and Nitrogen di-oxide by Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
The city has lot of red industries as a result the PM 10 -- tiny airborne particles seven times finer than human hair–exceeding national standards (60 micrograms per cubic metre, or µg/m³) exceeds around 200 per cent. Environmentalists blame that public and private coal-fired thermal power plants, copper smelter and chemical industries for polluting the air quality of Thoothkudi.
According to a study 'Assessment of Air Quality Index for Cities and Major Towns in Tamil Nadu' published in Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering on March 2018, the air quality index of Thoothkudi is in the range of 25-167 and the cause of high level of PM10 is due to the presence of major power plants, copper smelter plant, fertilizer plant and other units.
Thoothkudi is termed as one of the Non-attainment cities by Ministry of Environment primarily on the basis of excess PM10 under National the Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program (NAMP), which monitors the PM10, SO2 and NO2 parametres.
Initially, 94 non-attainment cities were identified for formulation of action plans. State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) have been asked to prepare city-specific plans.
About 30pc of the respiratory diseases are related to personal exposure to high level ambient PM concentrations. PM10 can be breathed into the lungs, and therefore, its health effects are more severe than large particles.
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