1 week Ago
PUNE: An analysis of Pune’s air quality by Respirer Living Sciences Pvt Ltd, a climate-tech startup, based on four years of data from the AQ Atlas platform, shows that PM10 concentrations in the city have consistently breached the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) limit of 60 μg/m3—even during summer months when pollution is expected to ease. The city has shown high seasonal variability, but no sustained improvement across any of the four years. The report published by the startup titled ‘An in-depth analysis of PM10 trends from 2021 to 2024’ provides a comprehensive analysis of PM10 concentration trends across 11 major Indian cities between 2021 and 2024.
The cities include Delhi, Patna, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai. The findings reveal that all cities have consistently breached the NAAQS limit of 60 μg/m3, with several northern cities such as Bhiwadi, Delhi, and Ghaziabad recording annual averages well over 150 μg/m3. In contrast, southern cities like Bengaluru and Chennai have recorded comparatively lower concentrations, typically ranging between 70 and 90 μg/m3 but still exceeding the permissible limit of 60 μg/m3.
The data highlights clear regional disparities and strong seasonal variation, with PM10 levels peaking in winter months, particularly in northern India, due to factors such as crop residue burning, vehicular emissions and unfavourable meteorological conditions. With regards to Pune, the report reveals extreme intra-year fluctuations in station-level data with Karve Road showing a dramatic 177.6% rise from 50.
0 μg/m3 in 2021 to 138.9 μg/m3 in 2022; and Alandi recording a spike to 127.3 μg/m3 in 2023 before dropping to 89.
0 μg/m3 in 2024. Locations like Nigdi, Bhosari, MHADA Colony and Revenue Colony consistently report annual averages above 80 μg/m3 and not a single station records levels below the national threshold. Ronak Sutaria, founder and CEO of Respirer Living Sciences Pvt Ltd, said, “The narrative around Pune often assumes it is a clean city—but the data doesn’t support that.
Even our so-called ‘clean seasons’ are not actually clean. PM10 pollution here is unpredictable, persistent, and well above safe limits.” A similar trend is seen in the air quality data provided by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s (IITM’s) Air Quality Early Warning and Decision Support System (AQEWS) which is an advanced version of the earlier SAFAR project.
As per the system data, PM10 and PM2.5 pollutants are on a higher level in Pune city throughout the year as compared to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) standard limit. Areas like Karve Nagar, Katraj, Shivajinagar, Lohegaon, Hadapsar, Bhosari and Alandi record higher pollution levels from time to time causing the city’s air pollution to remain at moderate level throughout the year.
When contacted about the report published by Respirer Living Sciences Pvt Ltd, Mangesh Dighe, environment officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, “I am not aware of this particular report but about the overall air quality, the city experiences mostly moderate category air quality throughout the year. Sometimes there is a huge spike in AQI at some stations but it is not a continuous peak and is mostly related to local activities like waste burning, bonfires etc. Hence, it needs to be analysed further.
To tackle air pollution in Pune, the PMC has undertaken comprehensive efforts including use of buses running on green energy, encouraging use of e-vehicles, having electronic facility at 12 out of 23 crematoriums etc. These efforts will slowly reflect in the city’s air quality and we are hopeful that in the coming days, we will see a good change in the air quality in Pune.” In an earlier communication with Hindustan Times, J S Salunkhe, regional officer, MPCB, had said, “Considering the overall scenario with regards to air pollution in Pune, we have identified three major sources of pollution increase in the city including poor road conditions, vehicle movement, and pollution due to ready-mix concrete (RMC) plants.
Among these, we have initiated action against RMC plants. Closure notices have also been issued to some plants.”.
