Analysis of India’s Air Quality using Data

Analysis tools

*B Nitesh Vamshi a, Divyanshu Mishra b, Punya Asthana c, Namit Khanduja d

a*
Student, Deppt. of Computer Science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar-249402

Email ID: niteshvamshi123@gmail.com

b, c
Student, Deppt. of Computer Science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar-249402
d
Assistant Professor, Deppt. of Computer Science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar

Abstract. The increasing level of pollutants in ambient air in (2015-2020) has deteriorated the air quality of India at an
alarming rate. In the present study, the changes of the concentration of air pollutants were examined, based on data which
has been made publicly available by the Central Pollution Control Board which is the official portal of Government of India.
Descriptive analysis has been used to study the trends of various air pollutants like sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide
(NO2), suspended particulate matter (PM), ozone (O3) carbon monoxide (CO), benzene at hourly and daily levels of various
stations across multiple cities in India. The pool of prospective cities that could be provided the funding was continuously
shortened in order to narrow down to the 3 main cities of the 25+ ones at the start. We also analysed the COVID-19's
Lockdown effect on the Pollution level in India.

Keywords: Air Pollution, Covid-19, Descriptive Analysis, Air quality Index, Socio-Economic.

1. Introduction
Air is an invisible substance surrounding the Earth and providing us all with the breathable oxygen and
performs a vital role in supporting life on Earth. But with the passage of time the fresh and pure air is gradually
getting contaminated due to increase in air pollution. Air pollution is the presence of one or more substance at a
concentration above their natural levels, with the potential to produce an adverse effect.

In recent years, rapid industrialisation and urbanisation posed detrimental effect on environment. Problem of air
pollution is increasingly getting more serious. Increasing levels of pollutants in air is causing extreme health
disorder. It directly affects a population of millions who are suffering from shortness of breath, eye irritation to
chronic respiratory disorders, pneumonia, acute asthma etc [1] [2]. A report by the Health Effects Institute on air
pollution in India (2018) reported that air pollution was responsible for 1.1 million deaths in India in 2015 [3].
1.1 Causes of Air Pollution
Some major causes of air pollution are discussed below.

 Industrial exhaust

Emission of harmful gases such as SO2 and NOx from thermal power plants and other industrial regions adds
to the major pollutants of the air pollution [4].

 Vehicular emission

Traffic congestion and vehicular emission contributes majorly to degrading the air quality.

 Agricultural stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana. Farmers of Punjab and Haryana burning their rice crop
stubble to quickly prepare their field for Rabi crop wheat [5].

 Construction and demolition

Continuous construction and demolition contributing to increased level of dust-borne particulate matters in the
air and are, therefore, considered hazardous [6].

 Other factors

Some factors that may indirectly involve in worsening air quality are over -population, road dust, Diwali
cracker smoke etc

1.2 Type of Pollutants in ambient air

Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10): Particulate matter is a mix of solids and liquids, including carbon,
complex organic chemicals, sulphates, nitrates, mineral dust, and water suspended in the air. PM varies in
size. Some particles, such as dust, soot, dirt or smoke are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked
eye. But the most damaging particles are the smaller particles, known as PM10 and PM2.5[7].

Nitrogen Oxides (NO, NO2, NOx): Nitrogen oxides are a group of seven gases and compounds composed of
nitrogen and oxygen, sometimes collectively known as NOx gases. The two most common and hazardous
oxides of nitrogen are nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

Sulphur Dioxide (SO2): Sulphur dioxide, or SO2 is a colourless gas with a strong smell, similar to a just-
struck match. It is formed when fuel containing sulphur, such as coal and oil, is burned, creating air
pollution.

Carbon Monoxide (CO): Carbon monoxide is a colourless, highly poisonous gas. Under pressure, it
becomes a liquid. It is produced by burning gasoline, natural gas, charcoal, wood, and other fuels.

Benzene, Toluene and Xylene (BTX): Benzene, toluene, xylene, and formaldehyde are well-known indoor
air pollutants, especially after house decoration. They are also common pollutants in the working places of
the plastic industry, chemical industry, and leather industry [7].

Ammonia (NH3): Ammonia pollution is pollution by the chemical ammonia (NH3) – a compound of
nitrogen and hydrogen which is a by-product of agriculture and industry.

Ozone(O3): Ground-level ozone is a colourless and highly irritating gas that forms just above the earth's
surface. It is called a "secondary" pollutant because it is produced when two primary pollutants react in
sunlight and stagnant air. These two primary pollutants are nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic
compounds (VOCs).
3. Proposed Work
3.1 Data set used
The data has been collected from CPCB [8]. A snapshot of dataset is shown in figure 1. The dataset
contains City, Date, PM2.5, PM10, NO, NO2, NOx, NH3, CO, SO2, O3, Benzene, Toulene, Xylene, AQI,
AQI Index. The ‘Date’ attribute describes the sampling date other parameters give their individual
concentration of air. AQI and AQI Index describes the air quality index. The data has been collected from
2015-2020 for analysis.

Fig.1. Snapshot of the dataset

3.2 Methodology
The following methodology was used in order to tackle the problem at hand. Across these 7 steps, the pool of
prospective cities that could be provided the funding was continuously shortened in order to narrow down to the
3 main cities of the 25+ ones at the start.

Fig.2. Methodology
4. Descriptive Analysis
We introduced a new way of classifying the AQI levels in order to simplify:

 If the AQI bucket is Good or Satisfactory, it's put into the Acceptable label => Means it does not harm
people too much.
 If the AQI bucket is Moderate, Poor, Very Poor or Severe, it's put into the Unacceptable label =>
Means it can cause harm to a healthy population.
 Missing is a new label that takes into account the missing or null values of AQI buckets => Missing
data is a red flag as it indicates poor administration or faulty apparatus.

Fig.3. Percentage of AQI Levels per City

Following cities emerged as potential recipients of the monetary funding to improve their state.

 Ahmedabad: A very high percentage of the days it has registered measurements show unacceptable
AQI levels.
 Delhi: Same as Ahmedabad. Also, it's highly discussed in national and international media
 Other cities that make it to this list are: Gurugram, Patna, Lucknow.

Fig.4. CO level from different cities.

Fig.5. NO level from different cities

Fig.6. NOx level from different cities

Fig.7. AQI Level from different cities

 Fig.7. Average pollution levels of different cities

We compared our top 5 cities on the basis of socio-economic factors.

The analysis has so far focused on the specific AQI data available. However, to choose the most relevant cities
to be provided the monetary investment, there is a need for comparing the filtered cities across other indicators.
For this purpose, we compared the cities across 2 other indicators:

 Per Capita Income of the City (In INR) [9] – [14]

 Population of Children under 6 years in the City [15]

Direct consequences of air pollution are respiratory troubles and health disorders. Naturally, treating health
issues is an expenditure. These treatments can at times be extra cost (or burden) on families that are not well off.
Therefore, the per capita income of a city is a factor in deciding which city needs the investment to reduce air
pollution and subsequently decrease medical expenditure due to respiratory problems. Children are the most
vulnerable of all age groups. Also, children have always been the most protected groups across human
civilization. It is also a fact that children spend time outdoors playing games with their friends and tend to be in
direct contact with air more. Therefore, cities with a larger child population (under 6 years) were given some
consideration.

Finally, cities with low per capita income and high child population was given a very high priority as these fall
under a region of urgency.
Fig.8. Analysis of cities by Area, Income and Child Population

Fig.9. AQI Levels before and after lockdown for different cities
 Fig.10. Comparison of pollution levels of Ahmedabad in 2019 and 2020.

Fig.11. Comparison of different pollution levels of Bangalore in 2019 and 2020.

 Fig.12. Comparison of different pollution level of Delhi in 2019 and 2020.

5. Conclusion and Future Scope

The main idea of this study was to use technology for creating awareness to decrease pollution by adopting
proper measures. Based on the analysis, Ahmedabad should receive the initial funding for 3 years. Lucknow and
Patna are to be the 2 cities that should be funded if the funding to Ahmedabad is successful. This is because of
the relative importance to these regions due to low income and high child population. We also made a rough
plan to use the investment on mainly clean technology, to invest in community driven change and to invest in
making connections.

Clean technology is any process, product or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through
significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection
activities. Therefore, investment has to be put into creating an organization that would ask people
questions and act on their responses. Basically, bring about effective change in existing behaviour of citizens, by
involving them as key stakeholders in any relevant policy decision. It is important to form the right partnerships.
Develop plans with corporations to help out as part of their CSR. create accountability by keeping all
transactions open and public.

The COVID-19 has a far-reaching effect on the lives of people around the world. It showed a dramatic
impression on international and local transportation. On the other hand, lock-down slowed the economic circle
in the world, which resulted in shut down of production units and international trading. This study has evaluated
the significant influence of lock-down due to COVID-19 on the India air quality. The black vertical line shown
in Fig.9 is the first phase of lockdown that came into effect in India. This graph showed the variation of various
pollutant levels, from Jan 2019 onwards till date. Apparently, all the Indian cities seem to have a dangerously
high level of pollution levels. Clearly, there appears to be a rapid decline after 25th March,2020 in all the cities
under consideration. It is interesting to note that the Pollution level in India generally drops down as summer
approaches. However, the reduction in march 2019 is more pronounced than march 2020.

The future scope of the work is to explore and work upon various data analytical techniques to build a model
which is adaptable to dynamic atmospheric variables. Appropriate model of ambient air pollution is prerequisite
in developing stringent pollution control technology and measures thereof. Emphasis to explore clean energy
fuels and gradually phasing out fossil fuels, employing zero waste technology with integrated waste
management will curb air pollution menace in due course.

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[8] CPCB report on air quality data of different cities daily and hourly: https://cpcb.nic.in/

[9] Per Capita Income of the City (INR): Compiled from multiple sources.

[10] Ahmedabad: https://www.prsindia.org/sites/default/files/budget_files/State%20Budget%20Analysis%20-%20Gujarat

%202020-21_Final.pdf

[11] Delhi: https://www.prsindia.org/sites/default/files/budget_files/Delhi%20Budget%20Analysis%20-%202019-20.pdf

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gurgaon/slideshow/55224194.cms

[13] Patna: https://patna.nic.in/economy/#:~:text=As%20of%202015%2C%20GDP%20per,rate%20is%207.29%20per

%20cent.

[14] Lucknow: https://www.hindustantimes.com/lucknow/kasganj-s-per-capita-gdp-fourth-highest-in-uttar-pradesh/story-

8tSlU6yrjAeF9H92835X5I.html
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