CPCB’s Sameer app now has map, calendar for AQI updates

The updates in the app come ahead of the season when AQI spikes particularly across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav launched an enhanced version of the Sameer application — provides real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) updates for cities across the country — on Monday. The update includes an interactive map which shows nearby AQI stations, an AQI calendar, location-based services for identifying exposure, and personalised alerts, officials said.

CPCB’s Sameer app now has map, calendar for AQI updates

The app is the primary information provider of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The revamped version came on CPCB’s 51st foundation day, where Yadav also virtually inaugurated two new laboratories at the board’s regional directorates in Pune and Shillong. While the Pune centre will monitor up to 70 environmental parameters, the Shillong facility will track 62 parameters for the north-eastern states. A new extension building for CPCB in Delhi was also announced on the occasion.

Yadav, while addressing the gathering, said that environmental protection cannot rely on rules alone and behavioural change is just as critical. “We need to come out with new low-polluting alternatives and cleaner technologies for strengthening Make-in-India, along with ensuring wider availability of these technologies,” he said.

He also pointed out that to pursue the ambition of making India a five trillion economy, environmental regulations and norms must evolve and IITs, academic institutions, and research bodies should be reached out to expand laboratory networks and develop new technologies.

The minister stressed that CPCB should act as the umbrella body for capacity building of state pollution control boards and agencies, mentoring them on environmental matters. Reflecting on reforms like the Jan Vishwas Act, 2023, and the Environment Audit Rules, 2025, he said that regulations alone will not succeed unless they are paired with behavioural change.

“It is important to link social science with science and technology to instil behavioural change. Environmental protection should be part of our collective consciousness,” Yadav said.

The updates in the app come ahead of the season when AQI spikes particularly across the Indo-Gangetic plains. Delhi ranks among the most polluted cities across the world. On November 18 last year, Delhi’s AQI touched 494 (severe), the second-highest since 2015.