The Hindu : Six new air quality monitoring systems planned

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 19, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Six new air quality monitoring systems planned

By Anjali Malhotra

NEW DELHI, FEB. 18. Keeping in mind the Capital's reputation of high pollution levels, six more ambient air quality monitoring stations have been proposed by the Central Pollution Control Board to keep a closer tab on the city's pollution statistics. With only eight stations directly under it at present, the CPCB hopes to have the new stations operational by June 2004, though the proposal is yet to receive the final approval.

The areas under consideration for the six new monitoring stations are Vasant Kunj, Dwarka, Okhla Industrial Area, Azad Pur and Anand Nagar. The location for the sixth station is still under undecided with CPCB officials debating between All India Institute of Medical Sciences and Dhaula Kuan.

"We have tried to include all types of zones - residential, industrial and those with heavy traffic. This will give us a feel of the entire city. For example, we have selected Anand Vihar keeping in mind that they plan to expand the railway station. Okhla is an industrial area while Vasant Kunj is a residential area. For heavy traffic either AIIMS or Dhaula Kuan is under consideration,'' said additional director, Central Pollution Control Board, S. D. Makhijani, who is also chairing the committee in charge of the project. "We have finalised the area but we still need to identify where exactly the stations will be located within the proposed areas. We have been scouring the city today but nothing concrete has emerged as yet,'' he added.

A joint project with the Ministry of Environment and Forests and the World Bank, the six new locations have been planned as continuous, automatic monitoring stations. Estimated to cost Rs. 70 lakhs each, the stations will also have a data display system which will give minute-to-minute update. This will not only improve the linkage of stations with CPCB itself but also help in disseminating information among the people, claim officials.

Currently, the CPCB has only three continuous monitoring stations - I.T.O, Siri Fort and Zakhira - of which Zakhira has been not been in operation for some time now. In addition, it also has six manual monitoring stations - Ashok Vihar, Shahadara, Janakpuri, Nizammudin, Siri Fort and Shahzada Bagh - that are operated on alternate days.

However, in a city considered as one of the most polluted in the country with a population of more than 1.4 crores, this number was found to be hopelessly inadequate. "The Capital has been considered as one of the most polluted cities in the country. And it also has a large population. From that point of view, we have inadequate stations and so we are trying the increase the number of stations,'' informed Mr. Makhijani.

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