Atmospheric pollution: a case study of degrading urban air quality over Punjab, India.

This paper presents the results of a case study of urban air quality over a densely populated city Ludhiana situated in Punjab, India, in the form of monthly and annual average concentrations of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), NO2 and SO2 for the periods 1988-1989, 1994-1999 and 2001-2005 which is generally found to be increasing with time and thus requires immediate corrective measures lest the situation becomes totally uncontrollable. The present situation is as bad as in other metropolitan Indian cities, although it seems to have somewhat improved as indicated by the latest 2001-2005 data in comparison with the past 1988-1989 and 1994-1999 data, but much more still needs to be done. In addition to the industrial and vehicular pollution, the agricultural pollution due to the burning of wheat and rice straws by the farmers should also be checked because it also creates tremendous pollution in the atmosphere.