Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

MONITORING OF AMBIENT VOC’S AND PM10 DURING CONSTRUCTION OF NH-22, BYPASS (SHOGHI -SHIMLA -DHALLI) IN HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA

Shelly Banyal, R.K. Aggarwal and S.K. Bhardwaj

Abstract

The study was conducted to analyse the impact of highway expansion activity on air quality. The study area was divided into four equal sites based on distances viz. Site 1, Site 2, Site 3 and Site 4. The observation on different air quality parameters at each site were recorded periodically (three times) at an interval of 15 days during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. The VOC’s concentration in the study area lies in between in the range from 2.75 g m-3 to 6.37 g m-3. The highest VOC’s concentration of 6.15 g m-3 was recorded in the pre-monsoon season and lowest of 3.09 g m-3 in the post-monsoon season. The PM10 concentration in the study area ranged from 114.12 g m-3 to 144.17 g m-3. The average highest PM10 concentration of 127.21 g m-3 was observed in the post-monsoon season and lowest of 124.80 g m-3 in the pre-monsoon season. PM10 concentration in all the sites was higher than the permissible limits given by NAAQS.