Chandigarh to get two automatic air quality monitoring stations

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 14

To monitor the quality of air on a real-time basis, two more continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) will be made operational in the city soon.

Debendra Dalai, vice-chairman, Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC), said two CAAQMS installed in Sector 22 and 53 would be commissioned by the end of this month.

Apart from the air quality monitoring stations, an outdoor air purifier being installed at the Transport Chowk on Madhya Marg would also be made operational by the month-end,

he said.

Dalai said it would be the tallest air purifier in the country and cover nearly 1 km area around it. The purifier would be equipped with sensors to measure the air quality index and live readings would be displayed on a board, he added.

Chandigarh is one of the non-attainment cities in the country according to National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) norms, which means it has not consistently met the national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for harmful PM 10 (particulate matter that is 10 microns or less in diameter), PM 2.5 or NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) over a five-year period.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on August 21, 2020, had issued directions to assess optimal number of stations required as Chandigarh has been identified as a non-attainment city.

As per the criteria prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board, the population of the city lies in the category of 10 lakh to 50 lakh and requires three manual air quality monitoring stations and five CAAQMS. However, five manual air quality monitoring stations and one CAAQMS in Sector 25 are already operational in the city.

In compliance of the NGT order on prevention of dust generation, biomass and waste burning and regulating construction and demolition waste activities, the CPCC submitted that water sprinklers are procured under the NCAP for major intersections to suppress particulate matter (PM) and dust pollution in the environment.

Mechanical street sweeping machines are procured under the programme for cleaning roads so that dust pollution or particulate matter is not suspended in the air. The pavements are being end-to-end covered so as to reduce the level of particulate pollution. Biomass burning or waste burning are banned within the UT. Further, a construction and demolition waste facility at the Industrial Area, Phase 1, treats construction and demolition waste with a capacity of 180 MT, submitted the CCPC.