A report based on personal air-quality monitoring by students under the “Vayu Veer” initiative in the industrial city of Jamshedpur has painted an alarming level of air pollution.

The Vayu Veer initiative aims to empower youths and women from vulnerable and marginalised communities on air pollution issues.

The four Vayu Veers during their findings between December 2023 and January 2024 consistently encountered air quality levels that exceeded the national standards permissible level for 24-hour particulate matter (PM) 2.5 that is 60µg/m³ and PM10 (100µg/m³). Fine particles less than 2.5-microns diametre in the air can travel deep into the respiratory tracts.

The highest daily concentration of PM2.5 recorded was a staggering 607µg/m³, nearly 10 times exceeding the permissible limit observed at an urban slum near Burma Mines in Jamshedpur on December 22. Another Vayu Veer recorded a maximum concentration of 267.69 µg/m³ on January 10, 4.46 times higher than the national standard. Other two Vayu Veers experienced a similar spike on December 20, reaching PM2.5 to 291.39µg/m³, approximately 4.86 times higher than the standard and 309.90µg/m³ on December 18, exceeding the national standard by 5.16 times.

The community-driven report “Month in My Life” was released at a hotel in Jamshedpur by Clean Air Jharkhand, an unbranded network of citizens, civil society organisation members, experts and professionals espousing the cause of improving air quality, based on the data collected by Vayu Veers using GSM air quality monitors.

The report focused on personal air quality monitoring to understand air quality levels, pollution sources and health impacts.

“The group was demographically diverse with two members residing in Jamshedpur city (Burma Mines and Sidhu Kanu Basti) and the others in semi-urban area (Narwapahar and Sundernagar). This spatial variation highlights the urgent need for more air quality monitoring stations and more robust and accurate ones,” said a member of the Clean Air Jharkhand initiative.