Pune: Air quality in the city has deteriorated from ‘satisfactory’ to ‘moderate’, pollution data showed, with 24-hour average AQI crossing 100 for the first time last week. According to data from Central Pollution Control Board, Pune city’s AQI on Oct 3 stood at 110. It was 107 on Oct 1 and 112 on Oct 2 with PM10 – from road dust and vehicular emissions – being the prominent pollutant on all three days.From Sept 22 to Sept 26, AQI was in the “satisfactory” category, ranging between 62 and 88, and, briefly, was even “good” at 50 on Sept 27. But by end of last month (Sept 28-30), readings were at 67, 80 and 79.The deterioration was evident at monitoring stations. Dhankawadi station recorded the highest AQI of 146 on Saturday, followed by Revenue Colony-Shivajinagar at 144, Savitribai Phule Pune University at 108 and Panchawati-Pashan at 104. Hadapsar recorded 97 and Katraj Dairy was at 76.The improvement in air quality during the rainy period is partly due to rainfall removing pollutants from the atmosphere. Now, with rainfall becoming sparse, this cleansing effect has reduced, with dry surfaces throwing up road and soil dust more easily.“Usually, AQI becomes a little better during the rainy season. But with weather changes in Oct, when dry heat sets in, we gradually see a worsening,” said Dr Aparna Birajdar, a consultant pulmonologist in the city, adding that she was already seeing the effects in people.“Right now, because of this weather change, the allergic subset of patients is increasing. This includes those with allergic nasal and eye problems, along with bronchitis and asthma. Along with them, patients with viral infections have also increased,” Dr Birajdar said.She added that patients with established airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) should take greater care when pollution levels rise. “For patients with asthma or COPD, our two strict instructions are mask usage, preferably an N95, and monitoring AQI before outdoor activities,” she said, adding that on days with poor AQI, patients should preferably exercise indoors.Dr Himanshu Pophale, another pulmonologist, said instances of respiratory exacerbations (flare-ups of breathing problems) had increased by around 20-25% in the last week. “We are definitely seeing a 20-25% increase, which is significant,” he said.Dr Pophale attributed part of the increase to rise in vehicular pollution. “People are now returning to cities from their Ganesh festival holidays, causing a significant rise in vehicular pollution. This has overlapped with the increase in cases,” he said.An AQI between 101 and 200 is classified as ‘moderate’ under the national AQI system. At this level, the air-quality dashboard indicates that breathing discomfort may occur among people with lung disorders, asthma and heart disease. The rise in Pune’s AQI, however, should not be described as a breach of a single ‘safe limit’, since AQI is a composite index and individual pollutants have separate health-based standards.Dr Pophale said the rise in health issues was particularly acute in those with conditions such as COPD and asthma, with pollution acting as an irritant. He cautioned that indoor pollution can be an even bigger concern for some of these patients. “For them, indoor pollution is a bigger problem than outdoor air pollution,” he said, suggesting that this aspect should be considered separately while assessing pollution-related respiratory problems.
