Lucknow, Mar 11 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB), along with the traffic department, will now identify pollution hotspots in seven major cities in Uttar Pradesh.

The survey will be held in Ghaziabad, Noida, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi and Agra.

The move has come in view of a recent report of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) that found air pollution in major Uttar Pradesh cities to be 'severe'.

According to experts, the construction work and the vehicular emissions are the major sources of air pollution in big cities.

The government spokesman said that the UPPCB will aim to identify spots where the air pollution levels are high in a city so that effective measures can be taken to prevent it.

V.K. Singh, senior environmental engineer, UPPCB, said, "Our teams will work with local traffic department to identify crossings or certain sections of road where the air pollution levels are recorded higher than other places.

"If needed, we will divide the city into grids and work to identify the grids with higher air pollution. The focus will be on identifying areas with higher air pollution and permanent source of pollution which causes it."

He said that once the two factors are identified, work will be done to eliminate source of the pollution in coordination with concerned departments.

UPPCB officials said the survey will begin by March end and will take at least a month to complete. The board has also proposed a similar survey during winters to get more reliable data.

"Pollution sources can change over a period of time. For example, in summers, emissions from generators cause more pollution than in winter. The survey will look into such aspects," said Singh.