Loni’s air quality monitoring station may be relocated to city forest

However, environmentalists said that the relocation of the monitoring station is the administration’s attempt to conceal the true picture of air pollution in the city

Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation are planning to relocate the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) at Loni to the city forest area in Ghaziabad. They said that the CAAQMS at Loni has been recording very poor/severe air quality index (AQI) readings, which is affecting the overall AQI reading of Ghaziabad and may, in turn, also affect their performance-based grants accorded by the Fifteenth Finance Commission for air quality improvement.

Environmentalists said that the relocation of the monitoring station is the administration’s attempt to conceal the true picture of air pollution in Ghaziabad. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Ghaziabad, currently, has four CAAQMS systems at Vasundhara, Loni, Sanjay Nagar, and Indirapuram. According to official records of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the monitoring station at Loni recorded the highest levels of PM2.5 and PM10 among all four stations during the years 2019 and 2020.

Official CPCB records indicate that the annual average PM2.5 reading recorded by the monitoring station at Loni was 121.03 micrograms per cubic metre (mpcm) in 2019--the second-highest among all four stations--and 122.07mpcm in 2020--the highest among all four stations.

Likewise, the annual average PM10 level recorded by the monitoring station at Loni was 263.22mpcm in 2019--the highest among all four stations-- and 233.98mpcm in 2020--also the highest among all four stations.

The standard reading for PM2.5 is 60mpcm, and for PM10 it is 100mpcm.

“The Loni station does not portray an accurate picture, as its AQI readings are added to the readings from the three other stations. Loni is anyway out of the jurisdiction of the corporation area. So, we have planned to relocate the monitoring station at Loni to the city forest at Karhera,” said MS Tanwar, municipal commissioner.

Once relocated, the monitoring station will be installed about 14km away from Loni in the clean surroundings of the city forest, which is near the Hindon river.

The city forest is managed by the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA), while the corporation is the custodian of the 100-acre land on which the forest is located.

“For the past several years, the city’s AQI reading has been impacted by the high readings of the Loni monitoring station and it will, in the long term, affect our performance-based grants allotted by the Fifteenth Finance Commission. So, we are taking the necessary steps. We have received approval for relocation from the state officials and now we have sought permission from GDA to install the station,” Tanwar said, adding that the works for relocation are likely to be completed within a month.

Another station whose location is leading to high readings is the one at Sanjay Nagar. Corporation officials said that they are also considering relocating it elsewhere.

Officials of the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) said that once the monitoring station at Loni is relocated, they will start monitoring AQI manually in the area.

“The Loni station’s readings remain high because there are bad roads, regular construction activities and even garbage burning and illegal factories in the area. Once we relocate the station, we will start manually monitoring the AQI at Loni. In the next financial year, when more funds are allotted, an online CAAQMS will be installed in Loni and its readings will be recorded separately in the CPCB’s daily AQI bulletin,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer, UPPCB.

However, environmentalists said that the relocation of the monitoring station is the administration’s attempt to conceal the true picture of air pollution in the city.

“It seems that the measure has been taken only with the aim to get funds. Loni is a part of the Ghaziabad district and its citizens have the right to clean air if the readings are poor. Instead of relocating the station, the administration should make efforts to lower pollution. Further, relocating the monitoring station to a green area will give low readings. This will conceal the true picture of the city as a whole,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist and lawyer.

Sushil Raghav, another environmentalist, said that if relocation goes through, he will challenge the decision before a court.

“In case they relocate the monitoring station, we will challenge it in a court. Instead, the city should have more monitoring stations, like in Delhi, so that the correct picture can be ascertained. If there is no CAAQMS in Loni, then real-time figures will not be available and Loni residents will continue to suffer due to bad air,” Raghav said.