PCB proposes air quality monitoring system for Karnal

Karnal, November 21

The Pollution Control Board (PCB) has sent a proposal to the higher authorities in Panchkula for setting up an ambient air quality monitoring system at the Mini-Secretariat in Sector 12 here, said Virender Punia, SDO, PCB.

With the help of this hi-tech system, people would get round-the-clock information about air quality.

“A display screen in the Mini-Secretariat would give readings related to air quality,” Punia maintained.

Such air quality determining stations were already operational at Panchkula, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Panipat, he said, adding that there was a manual system at Yamunanagar, the regional centre of the PCB, but it had the facility to check air quality daily.

He said the air quality data on Diwali this year suggested that residents of the district had restrained themselves from bursting crackers this year.

On Diwali day on October 30 from 2 pm to 10 pm, the presence of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) had exceeded the permissible limit of 100 RSPM in Karnal.

It was 217.61 RSPM this time as against 225 RSPM last year. It was only 141 RSPM between 10 pm and 6 am on October 31 while it was higher last year. — TNS