With every breath, city residents are inhaling miniscule particles of dust, smoke, soot, pollen and soil, also known as suspended particulate matter. The quality of the air in our city is rapidly deteriorating because of the pollution caused by vehicles and dust particles as a result of construction activities. To combat the threat, the city administration has come up with rigorous guidelines. Pollution levels According to the pollution control board, suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air rises to alarming levels in summer and winter. The board has drawn up a plan to combat air pollution and asked the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ensure its implementation. Experts believe that air quality in the city has deteriorated because of rapid construction activities and a steep increase in the number of vehicles on the city roads. According to the Regional Transport Office, the number of vehicles in the city is now around 5 lakh. The pollution control board has installed pollution monitoring devices at Unit I, Patrapada, Unit VIII and Chandrasekharpur. It collects data on weekly basis from all these stations. Standard norms say SPM should not exceed 100 micro gram per cubic metre (mg/m3), however, the pollution control board’s analysis during summer this year revealed that in Unit I, SPM remained at a high of 144 mg/m3 while the same in Unit VIII stood at 112. Senior environmental scientist of the pollution board D.K. Behera said suspended particles in the air during summer was usually low, but the situation here was alarming. He said rapid construction across the city and rising vehicular population had triggered the problem. Today’s analysis, however, saw the SPM level under control mainly because of rain in the city. According to today’s recording, the SPM level at Unit I remained at 75, at Unit VIII it was 52, at Chandrasekharpur it was 81 while at Patrapada, the SPM recorded was 75. Health impact Pulmonologist Janardan Rath said particulate matter affects more people than any other pollutants. “The major components of particulate matter contain sulphates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon and mineral dust. This could lead to major health problems such as irritation in the airways, breathing problems and tuberculosis. People suffering from asthma are more vulnerable if the particulate matter exceeds the 100 micro gram per cubic metre-limit,” said Rath. Capital Hospital superintendent Binod Mishra said the premier healthcare institute received about 20 to 30 patients with respiratory problems every day. “The poor quality of air can cause tuberculosis, bronchitis and dry cough. It may cause lung cancer if the air quality deteriorates to that extent although the prevalence of the disease is not very high in the city,” Mishra said.