Second air quality monitoring station in Gurgaon to come up by next month - Hindustan Times
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Second air quality monitoring station in Gurgaon to come up by next month

Hindustan Times | By, Gurgaon
Oct 26, 2017 11:32 PM IST

At present, the city has one air quality monitoring station located at Rajiv Chowk.

The city will get a second ambient air quality monitoring system by next month. This was decided by the pollution department and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in a meeting in Chandigarh on Thursday.

On Thursday, the air quality index in Gurgaon was at 355.(HT Photo)
On Thursday, the air quality index in Gurgaon was at 355.(HT Photo)

Both technical and financial tenders have been finalised and it will take a month to finally install the new unit in IMT Manesar. We got the final nod from the CPCB,” said JB Sharma, regional officer, Haryana State Pollution Control Board.

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In the meeting it was decided that the CPCB will provide technical help in installing the station.

At present, the city has one air quality monitoring station located at Rajiv Chowk.

The city was supposed to get the second air quality monitoring unit by end of September, however, nothing had happened on the ground.

This move is important as the air quality is deteriorating in the city. On Thursday, the air quality index (AQI) was measured at 355 and 317 on Wednesday. AQI had shot up to 315 on Tuesday from 243 on Monday.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director of research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “Identification of all major and minor contributors of air pollution is essential to formulate a map to reduce them. Without knowing the pollutants and their source it is difficult to make a plan.”

The AQI indicates air pollution from three major pollutants — NO2, PM10 and PM2.5. It rates the air quality as ‘good’ if the reading is in the range of 0-100, ‘moderate’ for 101-200 and ‘poor’ for 201-300.

The index for individual pollutants at a monitoring location is calculated as per its 24-hour average concentration value (8-hour cycle in case of CO and Ozone) and health breakpoint concentration range.

All pollutants cannot be monitored at all locations. Overall AQI is calculated only if data of a minimum of three pollutants is available.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Ipsita Pati is a senior correspondent with the Hindustan Times, covering Gurgaon. She has written on pollution, wildlife, forest cover, Maoists problems and illegal mining while working in different states of India including Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi and Haryana.

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