Air pollution has become a growing problem in megacities and large urban areas through out the globe, and transportation is recognized as the major source of air pollution in many cities, especially in developing countries. Contribution of automobiles is reported in the range of 40 to 80% of the total air pollution. The challenge facing megacities is how to reduce the adverse environmental impacts and other negative effects of transportation without giving up the benefits of mobility. The dilemma becomes most pressing under conditions of rapid urban growth, which is likely to increase travel demand significantly. The paper is aimed at understanding the problem of vehicular pollution vis-a-vis ambient air quality for a highly traffic affected megacity, Delhi, wherein, the contribution of transport sector was estimated to be as high as 72%. An effort has been made to review and evaluate the benefits (in terms of improved air quality) of the technological interventions/policies adopted for vehicular pollution control in Delhi. It also highlights the outcome of the efforts and suggests further improvements thereon. The importance of public participation and awareness are also discussed. The paper focuses on deriving the benefits of the implementation of management strategies, supported by scientific and technical data/interpretation, so that the people can realize and participate in the government's endeavor for clean city drive in a more effective manner.
Petroleum refineries are largest chemical industries that are responsible for the emission of several pollutants into the atmosphere. Benzene is among the most important air pollutants that are emitted by petroleum refineries, since they are involved in almost every refinery process. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major group of air pollutants, which play a critical role in atmospheric chemistry. These contribute to toxic oxidants, which are harmful to ecosystem, human health and atmosphere. The variability of pollutants is an important factor in determining human exposure to these chemicals. The ambient air concentrations of benzene were measured in several sites around the Digboi petroleum refinery, near the city of Gowahati in northeast India, during winter and summer 2004. The seasonal and spatial variations of the ambient air concentrations of this benzene were investigated and analyzed. An estimation of the contribution of the refinery to the measured atmospheric levels of benzene was also performed. The ambient air mixing ratios of benzene in a large area outside the refinery was generally low, in ppbv range, much lower than the ambient air quality standards. This article presents the temporal and spatial variation of air pollution in and around petroleum refinery and showed that no health risk due to benzene is present in the areas adjacent to the refinery.
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