UPPCB to conduct fortnight-long air quality monitoring for Noida, Ghaziabad

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board has decided to conduct a special air quality monitoring in Ghaziabad and Noida -- one week during the pre-Diwali period and again for another week after the festival concludes -- to find out the impact of toxic pollutants, which get generated during the festival

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has decided to conduct a special air quality monitoring in Ghaziabad and Noida -- one week during the pre-Diwali period and again for another week after the festival concludes -- to find out the impact of toxic pollutants, which get generated during the festival.

UPPCB officials said that the difference between the pre- and post-Diwali samples will help them ascertain the contribution of firecrackers to air pollution and accordingly, corrective measures can be taken. (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

Officials said the special monitoring will be done at UPPCB’s regional offices in Ghaziabad’s Vasundhara and Noida’s Sector 1 and the inputs will be sent to Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), Lucknow, for further analysis.

The IITR Lucknow is a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

“With this special monitoring, we will be able to find out the toxic elements and metals, which may arrive with the spike in pollution levels around Diwali. The pre-Diwali monitoring samples will have a certain level (of pollutants) while the post-Diwali samples will contain another set of samples. The increase in toxicity and the presence of metals in air will be ascertained,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB.

“Presence of specific pollutantswill indicate to us the source, which could be stubble burning, vehicular pollution, road dust or even firecrackers,” he added.

Another UPPCB officer said the difference between the two samples will ascertain the pollution level contributed by firecrackers, which are usually burst during Diwali.

“The difference between the pre and post-Diwali samples will also help us ascertain the contribution of firecrackers to air pollution and accordingly, corrective measures can be taken. With the pre-Diwali samples, we will be able to ascertain the contribution of dust, vehicular pollution to air quality,” said Sharma.

“The monitoring will be with the help of special filters installed at the three places and these will be sent to IITR, Lucknow for analysis. The monitoring will span out over 24 hours,” added the officer.

Experts said air pollution during Diwali is loaded with organic compounds and metals.

“These may include sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, benzene, lead, potassium nitrate and organic compounds, besides dust or particulate matter. These are harmful for human beings and may aggravate conditions of bronchitis, infection to kidney, liver and eyes among others. The sulphur oxides, when mixed with mist having high water content, leads to formation of sulphurous acid and may cause acid rain, which affects vegetation and human beings as well,” said Dr Chandra Vir Singh, retired scientist from Haryana pollution board.

Over the past few years, it has been observed that there has been a considerable increase in air pollution during Diwali and the air quality in the cities falling in the National Capital Region often spike to “severe” levels.