Bhubaneswar: The non-motorised modes of transport will get a push in the city as the administration looks to improve the situation in the face of rapidly worsening air quality.

Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) will introduce a slew of measures to lessen pollution in Bhubaneswar and its neighbourhood. It had held a daylong workshop - Air Action Plan - last week where stakeholders from various organisations submitted their inputs on achieving clean air.

"Rapid urbanisation and increase in infrastructure activities have given a rise to pollution. We have taken data from the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and held the workshop, where people from various organisations put forward their views and suggested corrective measures," said a BSCL official.

Sources said smart city officials would come up with a vision document that would be implemented on the basis of the inputs from experts. "It will be a co-ordinated effort and implemented rigorously," said the official.

A reality check done by The Telegraph on Tuesday on the city's air quality index revealed that the suspended particulate matter (SPM) remained at 101 microgram per meter cube (mg/m3). Standard norms say the SPM should not exceed the 100 mg/m3 threshold, as it might cause respiratory problems.

According to the pollution control board data, the SPM at most places here was moderate - 111 mg/m3 at Unit-VIII, 109 at Nayapalli, 110 at Unit-I, 101 at Patrapada and 88 at Chandrasekharpur.

Environmentalists also showed concern over the pollution level. They said the situation should have been in control after a week that saw torrential rain lashing Bhubaneswar.

"The SPM is higher during summers and winters because of the dry weather, but it should not reach such levels in monsoon," said environmentalist Sailabala Padhi.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they were conducting awareness activities to make people aware about the effects of polluted air. "We are encouraging non-motorised transport and will shortly introduce the bicycle-sharing programme. We are also going to increase the fleet of city buses and discourage use of private vehicles," said Jena.

Kharavela Nagar resident Lalit Mohanty said there had to be all-round efforts to curb air pollution. "The objectives might not be achieved only by discouraging motorised transport, but other aspects such as measures at worksites to control dust should also be looked into," said Mohanty.