This year Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board is planning to conduct patrol comprising 30 teams on the eve of Bhogi in all 15 zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation in association with the police to control pollution. In order to monitor the ambient air quality in Chennai city during Bhogi Festival, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has programmed to conduct survey at 15 locations covering all the Zones of Greater Chennai Corporation on Pre-Bhogi day and Bhogi day. The survey will be conducted for 24 hours on each day. The survey report will be released in the TNPCB website.
"In order to create awareness among the public, TNPCB is conducting awareness programme in all the Districts in association with District Administration, School Education Department. This is being done for past 15 years," said an official release. It said bonfires lit by residents in the presence of high humidity, low temperature may cause smog which disrupts visibility and put motorists in great hardship and flight operations may also be disrupted because of smog.
Further, flight operation where disrupted at Chennai. More than 16 flights including 9 international flights have been diverted to Bangalore, Hyderabad and Coimbatore, further 42 flights were delayed and 40 more were cancelled. Motorists are also put in to great hardship after smog reduced visibility to less than 50 meters. During the year 2018 high humidity, low temperature and low wind speed, there was no dispersal and dilution of pollutants, which has resulted in higher value of particular matter observed in the 13 corporation zonal wards in the range of 135 to 386 against the prescribed limits 100 micrograms per meter cube for PM10.
