Delhi to get six new air quality monitoring stations by August

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the new stations are expected to be fully functional ahead of the winter pollution season

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has floated tenders for the supply, installation, and commissioning of six new continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS), which will also be operated and maintained by the winning bidders for the next 10 years.

An anti-smog gun at South block on Raisina Hill in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said a deadline of August has been set for installing the new stations, which are expected to be fully functional ahead of the winter pollution season.

“We are on track to complete installation by August. The stations will be operationalised soon after,” Sirsa told HT. He added that all six sites have been identified and will be handed over to the selected vendors in time for construction and equipment setup.

Once installed, they will take the total number of air monitoring stations in the Capital from 40 to 46. While Sirsa had earlier stated on April 15 that the stations would be ready by June 30, the deadline now appears to have shifted to August.

HT had reported on April 26 that the proposed sites for the new stations are in relatively green areas, which may skew Delhi’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) downward. Of the six, three are planned within lush institutional campuses — Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in south Delhi, and Netaji Subhash University (West Campus). Another is to be set deep inside the Central Ridge forest at the ISRO Earth Station near Malcha Mahal, while the remaining two are slated for Delhi Cantonment and the Commonwealth Games Sports Complex in east Delhi.

An environment department official said the sites will be handed over free of encumbrances, though it will be the bidder’s responsibility to ensure connectivity and basic utilities such as power, telephone, and internet. “DPCC will assist with documentation, but the onus of making the sites functional lies with the operator,” the official added.

Of the city’s existing 40 stations, 24 are currently managed by DPCC, while the rest are handled by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM). All six new stations will fall under DPCC’s domain but be maintained by third-party operators.