Hyderabad, Secunderabad among NO2 emission hotspots

HYDERABAD: Parts of Secunderabad and Hyderabad, Ramagundam, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam in two Telugu states are among the global hotspots for NO2 emissions, environmental watchdog 'Greenpeace' said on Monday after analysing new satellite data.
While the toxic clouds over the twin cities is due to vehicular pollution, in Vijayawada and Vizag it is due to vehicular pollution and presence of thermal plants while in Ramagundam it is due to thermal plants alone.
NO2 is a dangerous pollutant that impacts human health. The satellite data was gathered from European Space Agency's Sentinel 5P satellite recorded between June and August 2018. Coal and vehicular emissions were identified as the two principal sources of NO2.
Delhi, Odisha and the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh region are among the top 50 global hotspots for NO2 emissions.
Ramagundam in Telangana has a Red Spot because of the highest level of NO2 thickness measured in Dobson units because of the presence of thermal plants there.