635 SATEM-2019 Special Issue J. Indian Chem. Soc., Vol. 97, April 2020, pp. 635-643 Air pollution tolerance, dust capturing capacity of native tropical trees for green belt development in Dhanbad and Bokaro city, Jharkhand, India Arpita Roy and Tanushree Bhattacharya* Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi-835 215, Jharkhand, India E- mail: phdcee10002.18@bitmesra.ac.in, tbhattacharya@bitmesra.ac.in Manuscript received online 24 December 2019, accepted 24 March 2020 The study has been conducted in two cities of Jharkhand, namely Dhanbad and Bokaro. We examine Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) and Anticipated Performance Index (API) of native trees and identify the tolerant species for green belt devel- opment. Dust capturing capacity (DCC) was also evaluated. Leaves were sampled in winter for its calm and stable weather with less or no rainfall. The APTI trend of plants growing in Dhanbad were as M. indica > A. indica > H. rosa-sinesis > P. guajava > T. divaricate > C. procera > F. bengalensis > A. scholaris > S. asoca . While in Bokaro, APTI trend were H. rosa- sinesis > C. procera > M. indica > A. indica > A. scholaris > F. religiosa > T. divaricate > F. bengalensis > S. asoca. S. asoca had the lowest APTI in both the cities. Further, API was also evaluated, to recognize a plants’ ability to abate pollution from a holistic perspective. In Dhanbad, the API trend was as, M. indica (6) > F. bengalensis = F. religiosa (4). Similar trends were observed in Bokaro, M. indica = F. bengalensis (4) > F. religiosa (3) and control site, M. indica (5) > F. bengalensis = F. religiosa (4) as well. Trees can absorb and trap numerous dust particles more efficiently. The maximum DCC was found in order of A. indica > M. indica > C. procera > P. guajava > F. bengalensis = T. divaricate > S. asoca > H. rosa-sinesis = F. religiosa > A. scholaris in Dhanbad, while in Bokaro the trend was M. indica > A. indica > C. procera > S. asoca > P. guajava = T. divaricate > F. religiosa > F. bengalensis > H. rosa-sinesis > A. scholaris. A. scholaris had the lowest DCC in both the cities. This could be due to larger rough surface area of M. indica retaining higher dust volume compared to relatively smoother and waxy sur- face of A. scholaris, which is unable to capture substantial dust. Keywords: Air pollution tolerance Index, anticipated performance index, dust capturing capacity, field emission scanning electron microscope. Introduction Air pollution is of great concern in urban areas of devel- oping countries. Uncontrolled industrialization and rapid ur- banization cause serious problems, due to the inadequate emission controls and inefficient environmental regulations 1 . Air pollutants are a threat to the health of both human and environment. The major factors are, intense population growth and industrialization 2 . They lead to elevated concentrations of heavy metals both in soil and atmosphere 3 . Natural and anthropogenic processes help in circulating metals in the environment. Natural processes involve mobilization from rock, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, evaporation from oceansand soil formation 4,5 . Urban sources may be derived from motor oil, rubber tire wear, electroplating industries, auto workshop and gasoline combustion 6 . Biomonitoring, is an eco-reliable alternative to the con- ventional air monitoring methods 7,5 . Its tangible experimen- tal designs and multiple sampling locations balances the lower precision of separate single measurements 8 . Plants can act as natural air quality bio-monitors by reducing detrimental effects of toxic metals 5 . Trace elements are transferred from abiotic to biotic environment 9,10 by them. Hence, they can accumulate potentially toxic substances 11 . The concentra- tions of heavy metals in air is strongly related to that in plants 4 . Soil acidification determines the concentration of heavy met- als in plants, while their root uptake is linked with metals bioavailability in soil or leaf surfaces 6 . Leaves of plants are a potential environmental sink for air pollutants 12 . Hence, plant- ing the tolerant variety can help in efficient green belt devel- opment, aturban settlements 13 , which will also improve the prevailing air quality 14,9 . Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) is a good tool to se-