air quality

Bengaluru has the dubious distinction of being the only Indian city where vehicles contribute most to air pollution. For a population that’s a little over 14 million there are 12 million registered vehicles (2018-19) with 1,750 vehicles registered everyday. 

Apart from vehicular emissions, fugitive dust from paved and unpaved roads is another serious pollutant, contributing as much as 20%. Industrial areas follow,  adding nearly 15% to the city’s air pollution. Rising construction dust thanks to a rapidly expanding city is another major contributor. 

The World Health Organisation considers air pollution as the single largest environmental health risk in the world. Recent research pegs premature death due to polluted air at 8.8 million annually. Sustained exposure to bad air causes respiratory diseases, lung ailments, cancer, and other cardiovascular diseases. India records the highest number of deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases and has the most prevalent cases of asthma. 

This page invites you to journey through how Bengaluru deals with pollution and air quality and explore ways to mitigate the harsh effects of it, as we re-imagine the city’s future as a cleaner and more breathable one.