University of Hyderabad area records highest NO2 levels

A Greenpeace India report ‘Beyond North India: NO₂ Pollution and Health Risks in Seven Major Indian Cities’ that highlighted high levels of NO₂ pollution in the city has noted that the region with the highest NO2 annual average was at UoH campus.

Hyderabad: Once known for its serene and pollution free environs, the University of Hyderabad campus at Gachibowli thanks to rapid development around it, has now recorded the highest Nitrogen Dioxide (No2) levels in the city. The NO2 is a near-invisible toxic gas linked to traffic and fuel burning, common in urban areas.

A Greenpeace India report ‘Beyond North India: NO₂ Pollution and Health Risks in Seven Major Indian Cities’ that highlighted high levels of NO₂ pollution in the city has noted that the region with the highest NO2 annual average was at UoH campus.

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According to the report, the average annual NO2 concentration in 2023 exceeded the World Health Organization (WHO) health based guidelines at nine out of 14 CAAQM (Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations) in the city.

The WHO recommends an annual average concentration of NO2 in the air should not be more than 10 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) while the annual average required by NAAQS is 40 µg/m3. The annual average at the PCB site of the university was 41 µg/m3 followed by Nehru Zoo park site (23 µg/m3) and Bolaram industrial area (22 µg/m3).

The Greenpeace report underscores a crucial issue that transportation sector is the largest contributor to high NO₂ levels across cities in India. As cities grow, the rise in private vehicles worsens air quality and jeopardizes public health.

There is ample scientific evidence links NO2 exposure to adverse health impacts such as asthma, airway inflammation, respiratory irritation, respiratory diseases, impaired lung development, intensify allergies etc.

Key highlights of the study:
• 9 out of 14 Air quality monitoring stations in Hyderabad exceed WHO guideline.

• Central University of Hyderabad has highest NO2 annual average

• An estimated 2,430 cases of paediatric asthma to NO 2 pollution in Hyderabad in 2015.

• Road transport accounts 24 percent of NO2 emissions