It might not shock you if told
that Delhi is the most polluted city in the world (World Health Organisation
report last year). But what if you get to know that the air you are breathing
in aapnu Amdavad is more poisonous? Ahmedabad records the highest dangerous
concentration of air pollutants in the country on certain days every month, if
the data procured from the state’s first air quality index station in Maninagar
is anything to go by.
But if you think that air
pollution is highest in industrial areas, you are mistaken. The air in
commercial and residential areas is most poisonous with highest concentration
of unhealthy pollutants. Ashram Road and Sabarmati are the most polluted in the
city, while air pollution is within limit in Narol and Odhav, data from Gujarat
Pollution Control Board (GPCB) suggests (see box for pollution levels in
different areas).
