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Air pollution has been one of the major factors affecting the environment with the advent of Industrialization and urbanization. Anthropogenic activities like combust ion of fossil fuels, construction, mining, agriculture and so on are attributed to be the major sources for air pollution. Globally, motor vehicle emissions are known to be one of the leading sources of increasing air pollution, while the major point sources for air pollution include chemical plants, coal-fired power plants, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, use of incinerators, metal production factories, plastic factories and other heavy industries. Since air pollution directly impacts humans and other life forms, there is a dire need to keep a watch on the air pollution levels and take pro -active initiatives to curb the same. MPCB has installed various Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (AAQMS) across the state under the NAMP (National Air Monitoring Program) and SAMP (State Air Monitoring Program) to regularly monitor the ambient air quality. This report also presents an illustrative compilation of the daily, monthly and annual data
recorded by the AAQMS in Maharashtra for the SO2, NOx and RSPM levels in the year 2013- 14. A special section on region (MPCB regional office jurisdiction) wise trend s has been presented for the major pollutants to illustrate the trend for the air quality in the state. Further a comprehensive comparison for all the AAQMS at a glance, so as to have a glimpse of the overall performance of the areas in terms of the quality of air, the AQI (Air Quality Index) has been developed and presented in the report for the year 2013-14.