Status quo to be maintained on SAFAR AQI stations

Mumbai: A meeting between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Tuesday -- to discuss the relocation of SAFAR’s air quality monitoring stations in the city -- did not reach any conclusion

Mumbai: A meeting between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) and the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Tuesday -- to discuss the relocation of SAFAR’s air quality monitoring stations in the city -- did not reach any conclusion.

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While BMC declined to provide an official comment on the matter, sources privy to the development said that a ‘status quo’ is to be maintained regarding the location of SAFAR’s AQI monitors in BKC, Chembur, Worli, Colaba, Bhandup, Andheri, Borivali, Malad, Mazgaon, and Navi Mumbai.

“A second meeting will be convened soon for further discussion. The project director, SAFAR, presented a few points on Monday in defense of their CAAQMS network, but the MPCB is adamant on having them shifted. For now, it has been mutually decided that the monitors will remain where they are,” said an official from the BMC’s environment department, seeking anonymity.

Atul Patil, deputy municipal commissioner (environment), BMC, on the other hand, refused to comment. “This is an internal matter and cannot be discussed with the press,” Patil said on Tuesday.

Hindustan Times was the first to report, on January 18, that MPCB has sought to shift the locations of these monitors on grounds that they are placed in high-emissions zones, and do not accurately reflect the city’s baseline air pollution levels. This proposal has been widely panned by citizens and experts.

Madhavan Rajeevan Nair, former secretary to the Union ministry of earth sciences (under the aegis of which SAFAR is operated), said, “The SAFAR network is extremely robust and rigorous. It conforms to sitting guidelines established by the World Meteorological Organisation, which are globally regarded. I was present at the inauguration of the SAFAR network in 2015.

“The former chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis, and former minister of earth sciences Dr Harsh Vardhan were also present. The monitors were deployed with the express support of the state government. If the MPCB wants to increase the number of devices in other locations, they should. But I see no reason to shift SAFAR’s devices to other locations.”

Debi Goenka, a city-based environmentalist and executive trustee of Conservation Action Trust (CAT), said, “The most surprising thing is that since 2015, MPCB never objected to the locations of these monitors. But now, eight years down the line, complaints are being raised. It looks extremely fishy when such allegations are made at a time when air pollution in Mumbai is at a tipping point.

“It looks like a clear attempt to obfuscate the reality of the situation, which is that the MPCB and other authorities have failed to take any action against rising pollution levels.”