Thiruvananthapuram: Kochi, Kerala's commercial capital, has witnessed comparatively poor air quality in 2021 against 2020, PTI reports citing a study. The study states that the city experienced lesser "good AQI (air quality Index) days".
The Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) analysis of days per AQI categorization showed that Kochi couldn't keep up the air quality gained in 2020.
The count of days with worse than 'satisfactory' AQI experienced by the city was eight when it was four in 2021, the analysis said. However, 2019 had 50 days with AQI above the satisfactory level. The number of 'good' AQI days declined to 43 in 2021.
In the city, Vyttilla experienced the worst air quality with an average of 56 ug/m3 in December, while Udyogamandal experienced the least polluted air the same month with an average of 33 ug/m3, CSE's study said.
The report further said that Hyderabad topped the list of cities in South India with the most bad air days, 98. The Telangana capital was followed by Vizag in Andhra Pradesh, which registered 86 bad air quality days. CSE report stated that Bad air days start during the end of December in South Indian states and last until the end of March. Hyderabad, along with cities in Andhra Pradesh, had most of the impact of the winter pollution. However, even in the bad air days, Hyderabad was 'moderately polluted' according to AQI values. It has not gone worse.
According to CSE, the objective of the CSE's new analysis is to understand the trend and magnitude of pollution in different regions that have real-time air quality monitoring systems. The study has covered 63 continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations across 39 cities in five states and a union territory.