Abstract

The present study was based on monthly variation of ambient air pollution in the village located within a radius of 3 km from the Parichhna thermal power plant (Jhansi, India). Parichha thermal power plant consumes annually 3.4 million tons of coal and the annual production capacity of the plant is 2.78 billion KWh. The thermal power plant uses approximately 10,000 tons of coal and emits large amount of air pollutants like fly ash, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen. Results revealed that the range of gaseous pollutants showed slight variation within the sampling dates during the four months under study. Although the average monthly concentration SO₂ (21±2.88 µg/m³) and NO₂ (44±5.10 µg/m³) was within the permissible limits given for industrial and residential areas, however, they are toxic on long term basis both for human health and nearby agricultural fields. The concentration of the SO₂ ranged between 17 to 28 µg/m³, while the concentration of NO₂ ranged between 34 to 51 µg/m³, during the study period. It is important to note that the values of the pollutants reported are after all the mitigative measures and preventive control equipments installed and working in the thermal Power plant. It has also been revealed that concentration of both gases was found to be consistently higher in the morning hours (8.00 to 10.00 h) compared to afternoon hours (12.00 to 14.00 h) throughout the study period.

Key words: Thermal power plants, pollution, coal, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide