By next year, Delhi to get pollution smart

India’s first air pollution forecasting system will become a reality with Commonwealth Games 2010, reports Chetan Chauhan.

India’s first air pollution forecasting system will become a reality with Commonwealth Games 2010.

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Cities in most developed countries like United States, Europe and Australia have air pollution forecasting system, which can predict quality of air for a week for different locations in the city.

It helps citizens in avoiding locations with high air pollution.

But in India, environmental watchdog Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) every day monitors air quality in over 100 cities, which is available in public domain a day later.

It does not have a system to forecast it.

In 80 of these cities, including all metros and industrial townships like Kanpur in

Uttar Pradesh, Ludhiana in Punjab and Akhileshwar in Gujarat, the suspended respirable particulate matter is higher than the national air quality standards.

“In the next three or four months we would have a system to forecast quality of air pollution at various locations in Delhi,” said CPCB chairman S P Gautam. “It is a project for Commonwealth Games 2010.”

In this Indo-French joint project, approved by the Environment and Forest Ministry and External Affairs Ministry, the French government will provide all equipment free of cost and technical inputs to put the system in place.