Controlling Air Pollution with Air Pollution Tolerant Plants

In a bid to tackle rising air pollution and urbanization challenges, Jammu Smart City is set to launch a large-scale plantation drive during current mosoon season, which should be inspired by scientific research on air pollution-tolerant plants.

- BY K K SHARMA

The initiative can create urban forests that will improve air quality, reduce noise pollution, and enhance the city’s green cover. The air pollution index of the city of temples generally ranges between satisfactory to moderate which is a matter of concern for Jammu being developed as a Smart city.

The plantation drive should use find ings from a study conducted in BHU, which evaluated 29 plant species based on their ability to tolerate air pollution. In this study, species like *Ficus benghalensis* (Banyan tree) and *Ficus religiosa* (Peepal tree) were identified as “excellent performers” for urban forests due to their high tolerance to pollutants. Other species such as *Polyalthia longifolia* (Ashoka tree), *Ficus glomerata* (Cluster fig/Gular tree), *Anthocephalus indicus* (Kadamba tree), and *Mangifera indica* (Mango tree) were rated as “very good performers.”