Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) has underlined that AP’s ambient air quality is satisfactory, except for a part of Tirupati, after taking up a series of activities to curb major pollutants in the state as part of the National Clean Air Programme. APPCB has set up 31 ambient air quality monitoring stations, most of them automated, at all strategic locations in Andhra Pradesh to assess the air quality and changes in it. These stations assess major pollutants in the air like particulate matter (PM) 10, PM 2.
5, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx), ammonia (NH3), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3). While the national average air quality index (AQI) is 60 with regard to PM10, AP’s AQI at various places have remained in the range of Good, Satisfactory and Moderate in majority cases, though the monitoring station at Vaikuntapuram Park in Tirupati recorded of PM2.5’s AQI at 343 on Thursday.
This underlines that Tirupati's civic authorities must initiate steps to control air pollution in the temple town. According to APPCB’s data, real-time AQI measures of cities / towns in Andhra Pradesh are: Anantapur – 58 of PM10, Bobbili – 94 of PM10, Anantapur Court Road – 104 of PM2.5, Chittoor – 51 of PM10, Eluru – 67.
75 of PM10, Visakhapatnam GVMC – 168 of PM2.5, Visakhapatnam – 100.33 of PM10, Chittoor – 191 of PM2.
5, Guntur – 63.5 of PM10, Bhavanipuram – 123 of SO2, Kadapa – 58.25 of PM10, Kakinada – 102 of PM10, Kurnool – 91.
25 of PM1.
