LANDSCAPE AS A NATURE BASED SOLUTION TO MITIGATE VEHICULAR TRAFFIC

POLLUTION: A CASE OF BHIMAVARAM, VIJAYAWADA CITY, ANDHRA PRADESH

AYUSHI BHATT & ADINARAYANANE RAMAMURTHY
Department of Planning, School of Planning and Architecture Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, An Institute of
national importance, India

ABSTRACT
Transport is widely recognised to be a significant and increasing source of air pollution worldwide.
An efficient transport sector is important for economic development and for the wellbeing of people.
Urban mobility is rapidly becoming one of the greatest challenges facing developed and developing
countries alike. Transport is estimated to be responsible for nearly a quarter of global energy-related
CO2. There are also rising concerns about its impact on the quality of urban life, including social
inequities, and about the effects of its pollution on health and buildings. The global vehicle fleet is set
to multiply three or four-fold in the next few decades, with most of this growth set to occur in
developing countries. In 2050, two-thirds of the global vehicle fleet is expected to be in non-OECD
countries. In Indian context, during the last two decades has seen an unprecedented economic growth.
The number of urban centres in the country has risen sharply. There are now 53 million plus cities in
the country which accommodates its residents in relatively smaller regions. Air pollution generated by
human activities has adversely affected the lives of millions of people and caused great economic
damage to ecosystems and society in India. Rural to urban migration, growth in mobility demands,
demands for power and industrial production has led to deterioration of air quality in urban centres.
More than 80% of cities in India where air quality is monitored do not meet the standard of air quality
prescribed by the Government of India. Keeping the aforesaid knowledge in mind, Bhimavaram,
Vijayawada City, Andhra Pradesh State, India has been chosen as study region for further detailed
investigation on vehicular traffic pollution. The study begins by analysing the pollutants emitted by
vehicular traffic, compares the applicability of different types of air pollution dispersion models and
explored the California Line Source Dispersion Model (CALINE4). The researchers have tried to
quantify the vehicular emissions for different receptor locations and to evolve location specific
recommendations. The carbon absorption capacity of different types of vegetation were analysed to
establish their association with road infrastructure towards air pollution. Based on the findings,
finally, the study concludes with a conceptual design of an arterial road in Bhimavaram, integrated
landscaping to reduce overall air pollution. The results of the study demonstrate that landscaping can
serve as a nature-based solution and to suggest mitigating measures to minimize the vehicular traffic
pollution in urban system.
Keywords: Urban mobility; Air Pollution; Landscape; CALINE4 Model

1 INTRODUCTION
Automobile traffic is growing rapidly on the urban roads of India during the recent decades.
In fact, by 2030, it is expected that the vehicular population may increase by four or five
times. The global rise in the usage of vehicles has negatively affected the environment due
to high road traffic emissions. These emissions comprise of different pollutants like PM2.5,
PM10, CO, NOx etc., which can negatively impact Air quality Index of region and have
high health hazards on human health. The significant impact of these emissions on urban
populations all over the world has motivated research on methods to reduce exposure to
these pollutants. While vehicle emission control techniques and programs directly reduce
pollutants emitted to the air from transportation sources, these programs often take a long
time to fully implement and may be offset by increases in vehicle activity. Thus, other
mitigation options like road side landscaping, is needed to fully and comprehensively
reduce air pollution exposures for these urban populations. [1]
To provide better solutions for Air Pollution, it is important to understand the by-
products of this phenomenon. This can be done through Air Pollution Dispersion
Modelling. This study gives a comparison between applicability of different types of Air
Pollution Dispersion modelling tools and gives a critical analysis of how CALINE4
(California Line Source Dispersion Model) is a suitable tool for the selected study area.
Quantification of the vehicular emission for different Receptor Locations can give a spatial
representation of Pollution and further help in Identifying suitable proposals according to
the existing context of the location (ex. Land use, Road hierarchy etc.). [2]. Thus,
Objectives of this study can be stated as following:

1. To identify a suitable Air Pollution Dispersion Model for case area.

2. To model Pollutant concentration at different Locations and Calculate Air Quality
Index for existing scenario.
3. To Quantify Carbon absorption levels of different Vegetation and their
applicability.
4. To propose a Conceptual design with integrated Landscaping for an Arterial Road,
as a measure to mitigate Vehicular Air pollution.

2 DATA AND METHODOLOGY

This paper aims to develop a spatial representation of Air pollution concentration for a
Road network, as a step towards mitigating Vehicular emissions by quantifying and
integrating benefits of Landscaping. In order to implement the aforesaid, characteristics of
Vehicular emissions is inferred, as shown in Table 1:

2.1 Characteristics of Vehicular Emissions

According to NAAQS (National Ambient Air Quality Standards), Air pollution of any area
or city can be quantified through Air Quality Index. To calculate AQI, concentration of
minimum 3 Pollutants is needed, that are responsible for degradation of Air quality (shown
in Table 1: ).

Table 1: Types of air pollutants specifically affecting air quality index, (Source: CBCB,
India)

Pollutants Source
Particulate Matter Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets
(PM) that can cause serious health problems by getting into your
bloodstream. Out of these, PM2.5 poses the greatest risk to health.
Carbon From internal combustion engines of cars, resulting in serious
Monoxides (CO) respiratory problems.
Nitrogen Oxides Nitrogen Oxides are a family of highly reactive gases. emitted by
(NOx) automobiles, trucks and various non-road vehicles (e.g.,
construction equipment, boats, etc.

The process of calculating the concentration of these pollutants individually is known

as Air Pollution Dispersion Modelling. Thus, we choose to explore further into Air
Pollution dispersion Models in the next section.

2.2 Identifying a Suitable Air Pollution Dispersion Model for Bhimavaram

Air pollution dispersion is the dispersal of air pollution into the atmosphere in the form of
particles, biological molecules, or other toxic elements that can harm humans, other living
organisms. The main goal of the modelling process is to determine the concentration of a
pollutant at predefined receptor locations using the fundamental data about the pollutant's
source and the meteorological data [4]. Understanding dispersion can help in locating and
reducing pollution by identifying concentration of pollutants generated by different
pollution sources, such as private motorised vehicles.
There are various Air pollution dispersion models available today, developed by
different countries with different input requirements, scale of function and varying
complexity. In this study, a comparative analysis of all the relevant models is done in order
to identify a suitable model for the given study area, as shown in Table 2. In the given
table, ‘P,’ ‘L’ and ‘Pu’ stands for the type of source for which the model works. ‘P’ denotes
Point sources of Air Pollution like Industrial units, etc. ‘L’ denotes sources that move in a
line like Traffic. Lastly, ‘Pu’ denotes the emissions that comes out of puff sources like
accidental plumes. Thus, all the traffic-based Air pollution dispersion models are compared
against each other based on their mathematical concept, scale of function and the type of
source for which the pollution is modelled. For this study, CALINE4 Model is found
suitable to perform Air Pollution Dispersion due to simplicity, scale and feasibility for line
sources. The data requirements of this model are discussed in detail in next section.

Table 2: Types of Air Pollution dispersion Model (Source: compiled by authors)

MODEL PURPOSE MODEL SCALE P L P

TYPE u
1 ADMS – vehicular pollutant Plumes Street   
Roads emissions from small road based scale
networks in and industrial
plants
It handles multiple road
sources
2 ADMS - handles most relevant Street  
urban emission sources such as scale –
traffic, industrial, city scale
commercial, and domestic
sources

3 HYROD Hybrid roadway model Puff receptors  

(In conjunction with model within
RAPTAD) 500
The hybrid model meters of
integrates three individual the
modules simulating the roadway
pollutant emissions from intersecti
vehicular traffic and the ons
dispersion emissions
4 CALINE3/4 Roadway air dispersion Gaussian City / 
modelling Local
calculate air pollutant scale
levels in the vicinity of a receptors
highway within
or arterial roadway 500 m
5 OSPM Street pollution modelling Box Street / 
studying traffic pollution local
Feasible for street canyon scale
conditions
6 DISPERSIO air pollutant emissions Gaussian Local   
N21 from existing /planned plume
industrial /urban sources,
vehicular traffic sources
7 AEROPOL simulating the dispersion Plumes Local  
of continuous, buoyant based regional
plumes, flat terrain scale
8 CAR FMI evaluating atmospheric Gaussian Local 
dispersion of vehicular
emissions of inert (CO,
NOx) and reactive (NO,
NO2, O3) gases from a
road network
9 PROKAS V atmospheric dispersion of Gaussian Local 
air pollutants emitted from
vehicular traffic on a road
network

2.3 Description of CALINE4 model

CALINE4 model is the one of the most often used models for predicting traffic pollution
along highways and roads. It is simple to use and requires minimum input data (Figure 1: ),
which makes it suitable for screening. It is a line source Gaussian-based dispersion model
developed by the California Department of Transportation for estimating air pollutant
concentrations. It has features like prediction of CO, NO2 and modelling at signalized
intersections. [4]. Four main categories of data are required to run the model in a dispersion
modelling analysis, and they are as follows [5]:

 Meteorological conditions- wind direction and speed, wind, stability class,

temperature, and mixing height.
 Emissions parameters- source location and height, stack diameter, gas exit
temperature, velocity, and emission rate
 Terrain elevation
 Building parameters- location, height and width

Input Parameters for CALINE4 Model

Site characteristics Traffic characteristics Meteorological data Road geometry Receptor location

Traffic data Stability class Road width At 500 m

Urban / Flat /
rural hilly
Fuel type Mixing height Road type

Traffic Wind speed Road

emission alignment
Wind direction

Temperature

Figure 1: Input parameters for CALIN4 model, Source: Johnson,2018

2.4 Evaluation of Air quality for Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh state of India

In this study, the selected case area is Bhimavaram, a small town near Vijayawada,
Andhra Pradesh. It is a selection grade municipality in West Godavari district of Andhra
Pradesh, with an area of 25.64 sq.km. and population of 1.4 Lakh according to census 2011.
It has about 50,000 floating population due to presence of higher education government and
private institutes in the region. It has become an important commercial centre especially
due to exponential growth in Aqua culture in late 90's. Since then, it has started attracting
people from its surrounding villages to migrate. The study area has two major State
Highways running perpendicular to each other, cutting across the centre as shown in Figure
2:
For running the model, various geographical locations are selected in a study area,
where pollutant concentration is calculated for each location. These locations are called
Receptor locations. These locations are chosen at every 500 meters, as per the data
availability and on the basis of fulfilment of all criteria of CALINE4 model. After selection
of locations, Traffic volume count survey is conducted accordingly. In the case of
Bhimavaram, locations are selected with respect to the core CBD area or the central activity
core, i.e., Bhimavaram railway junction. Following locations are selected:

1. Padmalaya Rd | Gudiwada - OC1

2. Undi Road | (SRKR College) - OC2
3. JP Road, PP Road - OC3
4. Tadeauru road - OC4
5. Komarada road - OC5
6. SH Road | at Malabar Shop - MB1
7. SH road Arterial Road | at Spencers - MB2
8. At APSRTC Depot on NH 165 - MB3
9. ASR NAGAR - MB4
10. Vendra Bhimavaram - MB5
11. At New bus stand on NH 165 - SL1
12. Town Railway Road, Sub- Arterial Road - SL2

Figure 2: Case area of Bhimavaram, showing road hierarchy and Receptor Locations
(Source: Generated by Authors)

Most of these locations lie on the National highway 165. This is because it is the main
arterial road for Bhimavaram with which all the major activities are connected together.

The first step in the model requires basic input information about technical
specifications of the pollutant whose concentration is to be calculated. The second step
requires X and Y coordinates of geo location of the receptor points chosen for calculating
pollutant concentration. X1 and Y1 are the coordinates of starting receptor of a link and X2,
Y2 are the coordinates of ending receptor of a link. Along with that, the mixing zone width
i.e. road width is also required of each link in this step. The third step requires input of
meteorological data of the case area like wind speed, wind direction, ambient temperature
etc. as shown in Figure 3: The fourth step requires input of coordinates of each receptor
location in Bhimavaram for which pollutant concentration needs to be calculated. (Figure 3:
b)

Figure 3: (a) Meteorological input parameters in CALINE4 model (b) Coordinates of each
receptor location in CALINE4 Model (Source: Generated by Authors)

The fifth step requires input of Traffic Volume Count of each receptor location and
weighted emission factor for the specific pollutant in the year of 2041. The weighted
emission factor of each pollutant is the average emission per unit square kilometre by
vehicles. It is one of the inputs that is required in CALINE4 model to calculate pollutant
concentration. The formula to calculate WEF is as follows:

For ex. WEF (For Carbon monoxide)

𝑊(𝐶𝑂) = 𝑥 ∗ 𝑎 + 𝑥 ∗ 𝑎 + ⋯ + 𝑥 ∗ 𝑎 / (𝑎 + 𝑎 + ⋯ + 𝑎 )
Where,
x1, x2, x3…xn = emission factors of CO for two-wheeler, Cars, Buses etc., and 1,2,3 denotes
type of vehicles, (As shown in Table 3: ).
a1, a2, a3….an = Population of each individual vehicle type, as shown in Table 4: .
Hence, W (Weighted emission factor) can be calculated for each pollutant like PM10, NOx
etc. as shown in Table 5: .

Table 3: Emission factors of each pollutant for each vehicle type (Source: CRRI, India)

Type of Emission factor

Pollutant 2 wheeler 4 wheeler Auto Bus
x1 x2 x3 x4
NOx 0.122 0.178 0.122 4.643
CO 0.628 0.604 1.55 2.953
PM10 0.023 0.004 0.025 0.085
CO2 36.332 144.126 85.51 611.479

Table 4: Population for each vehicle type in the case area (Source: RTO, Bhimavaram)
 a1 a2 a3 a4
Population for
each vehicle 205288 11915 13383 80

Table 5: Calculated Weighted emission factor for case area (Source: RTO, Bhimavaram)

Type of Weighted Emission factor

Pollutant gm/km gm/mile
NOx 0.126461 0.20364
CO 0.68106 1.096715
PM10 0.022156 0.035678
CO2 44.9528 72.38777

Following the calculation of pollutant concentration, CO (Carbon Monoxide) in this

case, is calculated for each receptor location, it can be mapped on GIS through Kriging
method to analyse which link (road) or node (intersection) has more pollution level than
others. This is helpful to analyse which road has high congestion levels in the future.
Similarly, concentration can be calculated for other pollutants also, like PM2.5, CO, NOx
etc.
Following the calculation of pollutant concentration, Air Quality Index is calculated
using the calculator available on NAAQS Website. Based on this, it can be observed that
maximum pollution is caused on the receptor locations present on national highway and
state highway, as shown in Table 6: .

Table 6: Concentration of each pollutant through CALINE4 model and Final Air quality
Index (Source: Generated by Authors)

S.no. Receptor Pollutant concentration (ppm) REMARKS

Id CO PM10 PM2.5 NOx AQI
1 R1 0.6 109 57 50 166 Moderate
2 R2 0.7 82.5 106 60 196 Poor
3 R3 0.7 188 62 60 207 Poor
4 R4 0.6 79.2 77 50 216 Poor
5 R5 0.6 79.1 58 90 179 Moderate
6 R6 0.5 108 56 50 214 Poor
7 R7 0.8 158 111 140 226 Poor
8 R8 0.5 77.5 56 60 150 Moderate
9 R9 0.2 68.1 49 50 63 Satisfactory
10 R10 0.4 169 54 50 272 poor
11 R11 0.5 153 55 170 259 poor
12 R12 0.5 125 56 100 155 Moderate
Average AQI - 191.9 (Moderate)

From Table 6: , it can be inferred that Air quality Index for Bhimavaram city lies under
moderate condition. The similar values, when projected for future may result in poor Air
Quality Index, due to which immediate mitigation measures are required. Keeping in view
this knowledge, Landscaping is adopted as a mitigation measure to reduce the impact of
vehicular emissions on Air Quality Index.

2.5 Adopting Landscaping as a mitigation measure

One of the popular and feasible solutions being used in India to mitigate Air Pollution is
Landscaping. Although, Indian Road congress (IRC: SP:99-2013) does provide some
insight on application of Landscaping and Tree Plantation for Environmental and Social
Aspects, it only discusses the issue of change in drainage patterns due to loss of vegetation
cover during construction of expressways and Highways. According to the IRC Guidelines
for landscaping on highways, they primarily focus on designing elements for the roadways,
such as obstacles, markings, signs, geometric design, and sight distance, etc., but they do
not include landscaping as a design element or its carbon absorption quality for highway
design or It does the applicability of Landscaping to mitigate Air pollution due the traffic
on those Highways. This study is an attempt to cover that gap by calculating carbon
absorption capacity of different plantations, which is discussed in detail in the Data analysis
section.
Landscaping can be used as science of modifying land areas by organization of natural,
cultivated, or constructed elements in a comprehensive and analytical manner. It can be
utilised for various functions like absorbing carbon dioxide and other pollutants, which can
be quantified in a manner that can result in a cleaner air quality of its surrounding areas,
enhancing liveability of high-density developments. Thus, it can be integrated with the road
infrastructure to act as a remedy towards air pollution by improving overall Air quality
Index of a city. [6]
Just like any other city, Air Pollution in Bhimavaram is expected to increase in the next
20 years due to rise in Traffic congestion on the existing road network. In order to change
this scenario, After Modelling Pollutant concentration and Air quality index at different
Receptor Locations, as a second step, Quantification is done for carbon absorption capacity
of different types of vegetation that can be used in Bhimavaram. These locally sourced
Plantations are then used on the proposed and upcoming Ring roads/ Expressways (Master
Plan 2041) in a planned manner to reduce the overall Air pollution. These reductions are
also quantified for a small Conceptual design of an Arterial Road in Bhimavaram with
integrated Landscaping, which can be used for both existing and upcoming Road
Infrastructure.
The proposals given for controlling the air pollution at Bhimavaram are based on the
site's current physical features, soil, temperature, and plant types (trees, bushes, etc). Use of
Earthen berms and buffer zones between neighborhood and highway road, which helps to
reduce the effect of air pollution. The typical layout of the highway with details of different
vegetation types is shown in the Figure 4: below:
 Figure 4: Conceptual design of an arterial road in Bhimavaram, (Source: Generated by
authors)

Locally sourced vegetation with properties of Carbon absorption is used to reduce

vehicular emission. The details related to placement of the vegetation are shown in Table 7:
and Table 8: .

Table 7: Design specification for Ornamental plants (Source: Generated by authors)

S.no. For ornamental plants Specification

1 Distance from embankment 1.0 Meter away from embankment
2 Spacing between plants to plants 3.0 meters
3 Spacing between rows 3 meters
4 Size of the pits 60 X 60 X 60 cm
5 No. of plants per kilometre 333
6 Height of plants 1.5 to 2 meter

Table 8: Design specification for shaded trees (Source: Generated by authors)

S.no. For shaded trees Specification

1 Distance from preceding row 3 meters
2 Spacing between plant to plants 12 meter
3 Spacing between rows 3 meter
4 Size of pits 60 X 60 X 60 cm
5 Number of plants per km 84
6 Height of plants More than 2 meters

 For Median 1: Width is 2m, one row of shrubs and ornamental plants are proposed
 For Median 2 & 3: Width is 3m, Shaded trees and flowering trees will be planted
at a spacing of 12 m in between.
 One row of shrubs will be planted on median 2 & 3.
 Turfing with grass in the median

Each vegetation has its own physical and technical specifications according to which it
is analyzed how much carbon absorption is achieved through them. It also helps us arrive at
a number of trees that are to be planted on a particular road stretch to decrease carbon
concentration in air. Figure shows the carbon absorption levels of proposed locally sourced
trees in Bhimavaram city.

Calculation Absorption Formula

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒐𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 (𝐂𝐎𝟐 ) = 1% 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒

𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 = 𝐴𝐺𝐵 + 𝐵𝐺𝐵
𝑩𝒊𝒐 − 𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆 = 0.4 𝑥 (𝐺𝐵𝐻)² 𝑥 𝐻 / 3.14
𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 (𝑨𝑮𝑩) = 𝐵𝑖𝑜 − 𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑥 𝑊𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 (𝑩𝑮𝑩) = 𝐴𝐺𝐵 𝑋 0.26
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑮𝑩𝑯 − 𝐺𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡
𝑯 − 𝐻𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒
𝑨𝑮𝑩 − 𝐴𝑏𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝑩𝑮𝑩 − 𝐵𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑖𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠

Calculation-
CO2 Emission Concentration = 46.78 ppm
Total Carbon Absorption = 40.40 ppm
CO2 Concentration = (46.78 – 40.40) ppm = 6.38 ppm

In landscaping, each type of vegetation is used such as shrubs, trees, hedges, and decorative
plants, has unique characteristics, life spans, water requirements, heights, leaves and other
physical characteristics. For each type of vegetation planted on Highways, the Green
Highway Plantation Policy (2015), has certain additional specifications. The technical
specifications for planting are displayed in Table 9: .

Table 9: Technical specification of the vegetation (Source: Generated by author)

Wood BGB Carbon No. Total

GBH H Bio- Total
S.no. Trees Scientific Name Density AGB =AGB Storage/ of carbon
(m) (m) Volume 3 Biomass
(kg/m ) X 0.26 Tree Trees Storage
Azadirachta
1 Neem 0.22 5 0.031 650 20.04 5.21 25.25 0.25 20 5.05
Indica

2 Peepal Ficus Religiosa 0.2 7.5 0.038 600 22.93 5.98 28.89 0.29 16 4.62

Cocos Nucifera
3 Coconut 0.16 10 0.033 500 16.31 4.24 20.55 0.21 20 4.11
(L.)
Polyalthia
4 Ashoka 0.18 8 0.033 730 24.10 6.29 30.37 0.30 18 5.47
Longifolia

5 Weeping Fig Ficus Benjamina 0.21 7 0.039 650 25.56 6.65 32.21 0.32 12 3.86

Alstonia
6 Blackboard tree 0.15 6 0.017 620 10.66 2.77 13.43 0.13 16 2.15
Aungustifolia
Cassia Fistula
7 Amaltas 0.25 9.5 0.076 710 53.70 13.96 67.66 0.88 21 14.21
Linn.

8 Bougainvillea Bougainvillea 0.025 0.45 0.000 200 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.00 30 0.00

9 Gulmohar Delonix Regia 0.13 4.5 0.010 600 5.81 1.51 7.32 0.07 12 0.88

10 Jungle Flame Ixora Dwarf Red 0.05 1.5 0.000 280 0.13 0.03 0.17 0.00 28 0.05

3 SUMMARY

Vehicular emission is a global issue which needs to be addressed in a critical manner.

These emissions have various components which can degrade the overall Air Quality Index
of a city, creating an unhealthy environment for human settlements. The effect of these
pollutants can be quantified using various air dispersion models like CALINE4 (California
Line Source Air Dispersion Model) in the form of pollutant concentration at different
locations. One of these pollutants is Carbon monoxide which can cause serious illness to
human health if exposed for long period of time.
The results of CALINE4 Model are visualized using GIS (ArcMap) software through
Kriging Technique, as shown in Fig.5. From the results, it can be observed that the state
highway located along receptor location R3, R4 and R7 has maximum pollutant
concentration of Carbon monoxide, as shown in Figure 5: . This can be accounted to more
number of heavy vehicles and traffic coming from outer cordon points of the study area.
The surrounding land use around this area is predominantly residential and mixed land use.
Thus, a significant number of people are exposed to the harmful effects of deteriorating air
quality. Landscaping is one such solution which can be used as a tool to mitigate air
pollution with correct application. It is sustainable and user-friendly solutions which can
help cut down emissions to a great extent and improve environmental health for a better
future. The other impacts of landscaping include the carbon content, carbon dioxide
absorption, and oxygen release characteristics that are unique to each plant or vegetation
species. Environmental, social, economic, health, and biological diversity improvements
are some of the impacts of it.
Landscaping around the state highway may result in reduction of these pollutant
concentrations. This technique can allow for flexibility in execution and design. Thus, more
aspects of landscape integration in road geometrics can be explored. It can also be
concluded that these concentrations can be used to analyse to identify the link or road with
high congestion levels in the future which may lead to degradation in air quality for
settlements around. This data can also be related be land use for future planning of cities.

Figure 5: Mapping of Carbon Monoxide in Case area through Kriging Method (Source:
Generated by Authors)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study was carried out as a part of the project ‘‘Comprehensive Mobility Plan 2022,
Bhimavaram’’ in 2022. We thank Ms. Naina Gupta, assistant professor at School of
Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada for her assistance on the subject and software
application. We also would like to express our appreciation to the batch of Masters in
Transport planning, 2021-23 at School of Planning and Architecture, Vijayawada, for
assistance in data collection process.

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