Why 19 cities missing from board's daily bulletins on air quality

Due to the non-availability of data, 19 cities of Haryana are absent from the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletins of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), sharing readings of the air quality.

Twenty-four cities of the state are on the CPCB chart for daily monitoring. The AQI in the range of 0-50 is good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor, and 401-500 severe.

Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Ballabhgarh, Bhiwani, Dharuhera, Fatehabad, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Mandikhera, Manesar, Narnaul, Palwal, Panipat, Sirsa, Sonepat, and Yamunanagar were missing from today's bulletin due to the non-availability of data.

The AQI was poor in Charkhi Dadri, moderate in Rohtak, Faridabad, and Gurugram, and satisfactory in Panchkula today.

As per information, the tender of the agency responsible for maintaining and operating the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) had expired in February, but the agency was working on the commitment that the tender would be renewed soon, which hasn't happened. Following the delay, the data delivery was stopped. However, the data of some cities is being delivered due to the difference in timing of the previous tender.

Nirmal Kashyap, Senior Environmental Engineer at the Haryana State Pollution Control Board, said, “The data is being captured at all centres but it is not being delivered in the absence of any legal agency, following which it was not reflecting in the bulletin. The tender of the legal agency responsible for operating CAAQMS had expired but the process of renewing their licence and work order is under process and will be done in a week. The recent showers have improved the air quality in the state.”

Meanwhile, Dr Dipti Grover, Assistant Professor, Institute of Environmental Studies at Kurukshetra University, said, “Inconsistent and lack of real-time monitoring may result in delayed responses to pollution spikes and directions from the CPCB and HSPCB. Real-time monitoring helps in issuing timely guidelines and the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) designed to tackle air pollution based on the AQI levels also depends on accurate data. Proactive measures must be taken to avoid such disruptions.”