Air quality assessment of Mandi Gobindgarh city of Punjab, India

The present study assessed the air quality of an industrial town Mandi Gobindgarh, one of the critically polluted areas specified by Central pollution control board, India. Air quality was assessed in terms of Indian Air Quality Index (IND-AQI) by analyzing concentration of the air pollutants like particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM_2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). Half-yearly wind roses were prepared from wind data from October, 2013 to March, 2015 for selecting sites on the basis of prevailing wind direction and speed. On the basis of wind roses, land use pattern and industrial clusters, 11 sampling sites were selected, i.e., 7 were industrial, 2 were residential, and 1 was agricultural. AQI was calculated for different seasons from March, 2015 to February, 2016; on the basis of IND-AQI. Results indicate that pollutant responsible for maximum sites for higher AQI was PM₁₀ and industrial sites were having "Poor" air quality, making area more susceptible to a large number of airborne disease. Annual cycle shows highest concentration of pollutants and water soluble ions to be higher in winter season and the lower during monsoon season. The concentration of water soluble ions for samples collected during winter season at commercial site was found to vary in the order of NH₄⁺ > Cl⁻ > SO₄²⁻ > Na⁺ > Ca²⁺ > K⁺ > NO₃⁻ > Mg²⁺. Values of SO₂/NO₂ obtained vary from 1.23 to 1.99 at various selected sites which depict that the impacts of vehicular sources were marginally less, when compared to industrial sources.