Hry govt floats tender for 21 AQI stations in NCR districts

The Haryana government earlier this week floated a tender for the installation of 21 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) across the state’s National Capital Region (NCR) districts, officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said on Thursday

The Haryana government earlier this week floated a tender for the installation of 21 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) across the state’s National Capital Region (NCR) districts, officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said on Thursday.

Once installed, Haryana’s total number of CAAQMS stations will increase from 32 to 53, officials said.

The proposed stations include six in Gurugram, four in Faridabad, three in Sonepat, two in Panipat, and one each in Rohtak, Karnal, Palwal, Mahendergarh and Nuh. Once installed, Haryana’s total number of CAAQMS stations will increase from 32 to 53, officials said.

The tender floated by the directorate of supplies and disposals, will remain open for bids until July 22, after which technical evaluation of bidders will be carried out. In June, joint teams of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and HSPCB inspected and shortlisted sites across the NCR districts.

According to the tender document, HSPCB will hand over the identified land to the successful bidder, who will be required to install the monitoring stations within two months of land availability.

Each station will be equipped with multi-calibration systems for gaseous monitors, meteorological instruments, ultrasonic sensors and data display units. The CAAQMS will monitor 12 air quality parameters, including CO, SO2, NO-NO2-NOx, NH3, O3, beta gauge PM2.5 and PM10 monitors, among others.

In Gurugram, the proposed locations include Behrampur (Sector 71), Jahajgarh (Sector 106), Tau Devi Lal Park (Sector 22), Leisure Valley Park (Sector 29) and an area near the water treatment plant in Chandu village along the Gurugram-Jhajjar border road. In the Faridabad-Ballabhgarh region, the proposed sites include Surajkund, NTPC, Jhajru Road, the biocluster zone and Mata Amritanandamayi Hospital.

To be sure, there are currently four CAAQMS installed in Gurugram, three in Faridabad, and one each in other NCR districts, such as Rohtak, Panipat, Sonepat, Karnal and Palwal.

In addition to air pollutants, the stations will record six meteorological parameters — wind speed, wind direction, ambient temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall.

“These machines cost around ₹1.5 crore to ₹2 crore each. Site selection has been based on a grid-based spatial coverage model, with one monitoring station for every 25 sq km (5 km × 5 km grid),” a senior HSPCB official said, requesting anonymity.

Officials said contractors will have to ensure that each station remains operational for at least 90% of the year, with continuous 24-hour monitoring to generate long-term air quality data.

The successful bidder will also be awarded a five-year maintenance contract. The tender provides for a penalty of ₹5,000 per day for operational downtime and ₹3,000 per day for analyser or system failure. A dedicated server will be set up at the HSPCB headquarters in Panchkula to integrate the new stations with the existing monitoring network and generate daily, monthly and annual reports, the document stated.