Parisar conducted a air quality perception survey, with a focus on the four vulnerable groups, namely - wastepickers, traffic police, hawkers and rickshaw drivers in the city. This survey evolves from a similar one done by Parisar in 2018, the major difference being the focus on the different stakeholder groups this time. The driving force behind designing the survey differently this time  was the fact that air pollution affects everyone, but its impacts vary with exposure. We wanted to understand how these four vulnerable groups understand and perceive air qualityFor cities to be liveable, a number of civic issues have to be addressed and planned for. While transportation, water supply, solid waste management have been the more visible, urgent matters for a long time, air quality is fast becoming a civic issue which demands and deserves urgent attention owing to the fact that it has now become a public health emergency.

Pune based NGO Parisar which works on sustainable transportation has written to the PMC with recommendations to relook at the transportation policy of Pune. The letter states that while the city continues to take on road infrastructure projects irrationally, the problems that manifest from lack of a holistic vision are taking a turn for the worse.

The report by Lancet Planetary Health published in December 2020 estimates that air pollution claimed the lives of 1.7 million in 2019 in India. Till date,1.4 lakhs have died due to Covid-19 since March 2020.While the Corona virus managed to get the entire country's health system and the state machinery in an overdrive, the insidious air pollution carried out its dastardly feat without so much as a public outcry. 

Air pollution does get attention in the national capital though, especially in winters.

Parisar recently released its new report - 'Clearing the Haze: An analysis of air quality management in six smart cities in Maharashtra'. The report is based on a study conducted in the six smart cities of Maharashra which are also non attainment cities, as per the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board. The cities include Pune,Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Thane and Solapur. The study is based on analysis of the smart city proposals of these cities, city visits to understand actual project progress and stakeholder meetings in each city.