Gurgaon to get 15 new stations for better air quality study

Gurgaon: The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will soon install 15 new air quality monitoring stations at various locations in the city. According to the development body, the three existing stations — one installed by Meteorological department and other two by Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) — are not enough to get a clear picture of specific factors affecting the city’s air quality. Given that the cost of installing one of these monitors is quite high, the stations will only measure PM2.5 and PM10, said sources.
“The levels of PM2.5 and PM10 will give us a good idea of air quality, and will come at a relatively lower cost than fully equipped monitors,” said MD Sinha, additional CEO, GMDA. He added that the authority was currently in talks with some private agencies for the air monitoring stations, and that they should be in place within a couple of months.

“We’re trying to get private agencies to provide the air monitoring stations pro bono. That way, the authority won’t have to bear any cost for installing them,” said Sinha. The locations of the stations have not been decided yet.

While overall, the city’s pollution levels have been better than last year, poor air quality index (AQI) remains a major concern. On Sunday, the AQI was ‘moderate’ at 177, according to the data collected by CPCB. As of now, one air monitoring station is in Civil Lines near Vikas Sadan, while the other two installed recently are in Manesar and near the National Institute of Solar Energy. Delhi, in comparison, has around fully equipped 36 air monitoring stations.

All the three existing stations are far from the city’s busy roads and junctions such as MG Road, Cyber City and Golf Course Road. Hence, their readings aren’t exactly representative of the city’s actual pollution levels. “Due to high construction activity in some parts of the city, AQI is likely to be much worse than that recorded at Vikas Sadan. Hence, more stations will be useful,” said an official.

The development body’s officials said the new air monitoring stations would help them better understand pollution levels and patterns across the city. This would further help them design short- and long- term pollution control plans, which is one of the main agendas for GMDA’s urban environment wing. “As of now, our whole approach towards pollution control is reactive. We need more proactive pollution control plans, for which we need better pollution data,” Sinha had told TOI earlier.