Gurgaon: Pollution board to monitor air quality on car-free day

The state pollution control board will monitor the pollution levels on three of the four roads selected for car-free day in Gurgaon.

The state pollution control board will monitor the pollution levels on three of the four roads selected for car-free day in Gurgaon.

On Monday, JCP (traffic) Bharti Arora, deputy mayor Paraminder Kataria and councillor Mahesh Dayma cycled in Udyog Vihar along with Embarq India officials and others. (Parveen Kumar/HT photo)

The Haryana State Pollution control Board (HSPCB) will study the pollution levels for three days, starting Monday. This will help analyse the impact of the car-free day on reducing pollution levels in the city.

The four IT corridors selected for the initiative are Netaji Subhash Marg, Electronic City in Udyog Vihar, Golf Course Road and Cyber City. The HSPCB will use ambient air quality monitoring devices (also called sample kits) to measure the level of PM10. The devices record the air quality up to a range of 500 metres.

“We have received a letter from the police, asking us to keep a track of the pollution levels on all four car-free stretches. We have already installed two while the third will be placed on Tuesday morning,” an official from HSPCB said.

While the pollution department was asked to monitor all four roads, it has only three mobile kits available.

Two pollution sample kits have been installed at DLF building number 10 in Cyber City and on Orbit Resort in Udyog Vihar.

The third device will be installed on Netaji Subhash Road, between Huda City Centre Metro Station and Subhash Chowk on Sohna Road, the official said. These devices need electricity connection to run and will continuously record PM10 levels throughout the day.

The monitoring results will be available by October 1.

The step has been taken after the National Green Tribunal asked the state to show the impact of the car free day last Tuesday on pollution levels. On September 22, Gurgaon observed its first car-free day.

According a data by Embarq-WRI India (one of the organisers), the level of PM2.5, recorded at 190 last Monday, had reduced to 150 the following day when the car-free day was observed. This was a reduction of 21%. The monitoring was done for the DLF Cyber City stretch.