Assessment of ambient air quality at the selected locations along the under-construction Danapur–Bihta elevated road, Patna, Bihar

The rapid pace of urbanization, industrialization, and population explosion exerts pressure on nature, the natural scavenger of pollution, and therefore currently 99% of the population is living in areas of unhealthy air quality. Construction industries are the major thrust areas, as they impact the air quality to a great extent. Therefore, in the current study air quality along the under-construction Danapur–Bihta Elevated Road, Patna, Bihar, was documented. The air quality index (AQI) was also applied to the obtained data to rank the different sites based on pollution level. The results of the current study revealed that PM10 & PM2.5 values were found beyond the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 24 hours (100 µg/m³) at AA-4 & 5 while beyond the annual standard (60 µg/m³) at all the sites. Even PM2.5 values were found beyond the NAAQS standard at the control site. Values of SO₂ and NO₂ were found below the NAAQS standard at all the sites. Percentage increase varies from 43.3 to 79.1% in the case of PM10, 43.2 to 48.4% in the case of PM2.5, 14.6 to 32.2% in the case of SO2, and 11.3 to 25.7% in the case of NO2. AQI results revealed that air is lightly polluted at the control site while moderately polluted at all the studied sites. Although dust mitigation strategies are in continuous application, there is a need to increase the frequency of water sprinkling on the road and use of fog cannons to suppress the dust emission. Face masks are also necessary for the workers involved in these types of construction activities to protect them from occupational health diseases.