The UT Administration has finally woken up to the threat of steep deterioration in air quality of the City Beautiful and soon a continuous ambient air quality monitoring system (AQMS) would be installed in Chandigarh. The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has given its approval to the UT Administration for the installation of monitoring system.
With pollution levels rising in the city, continuous ambient air quality monitoring (CAM) would be installed to determine the present air quality status, its changing trends and assess the health hazard. The continuous monitoring of air quality is likely to assist the authorities concerned to frame policies to control and regulate pollution from various sources and, to maintain the air quality standards here.
The continuous ambient air quality monitoring (CAM) system will observe eight parameters including Sulphur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), ground level ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), benzene, subtypes of atmospheric particle matter including suspended particulate matter (SPM), respirable suspended particle (RSP particles with diameter of 10 micrometres or less ie PM10), fine particles (diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less i.e PM2.5) in real-time.
At present, the Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee (CPCC) has five air quality monitoring stations, one each at IMTECH Sector 39, Industrial Area, Kaimbwala village, PEC Sector 12 and Sector 17 here. The pollutants monitored under this are RSPM (Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter) and SPM (Suspended Particulate Matter), SO2 (Sulphur dioxide) and NOx (nitrogen oxide).
According to the CPCC, the RSPM and SPM levels are recorded before and after the festival of Diwali every year.While talking to The Pioneer, Santosh Kumar, Director, UT Environment Department said, “The continuous air quality monitoring system will collect data throughout the day. And, it would become possible to observe the air pollution levels in real-time.” He said, “As of now, we observe the air pollution levels before and after the festival of Diwali. But, the CAM will enable real-time air quality measurements.”
“The CAM would cost around `1 crore. The MoEF has given its nod for the installation of the CAM and will share 50 per cent cost.” he added.Notably, a Parliamentary Committee in a report, had expressed serious concerns over the rapid rise in all types of pollution and recommended that a zonal office of CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board), proposed to be opened in Chandigarh must be expedited and made functional at the earliest possible.
In the past few years, the urban city of Chandigarh has undergone rapid environmental degradation due to increasing motorisation rate as compared to other cities of the country. Most locations in the city have now moved from the moderately polluted bracket to highly polluted category.
As per the latest data of CPCC, Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) exceeds the permissible limit at all primary locations in the city. CCPC’s air quality monitoring shows that several locations have become pollution hotspots. These include Sector 17, Industrial area I and Kaimbalwala village in Chandigarh.The data with CPCC has revealed that in city’s heart Sector 17, both annual and average of RSPM and SPM generally exceeds the permissible limits for residential areas throughout the year with the higher concentration during summer months when the weather is dusty and dirty and also due to ever increasing vehicle pollution load.
Also, According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO) study on pollution levels in 1,600 cities across the world, Chandigarh has high PM10 concentration of 105 micrograms per cubic meter.In terms of fine particulate matter PM2.5, which originates primarily from vehicular and industrial emissions, Chandigarh’s air recorded concentration of 46 micrograms per cubic metres. PM 2.5 (particles with diameter of 2.5 microns) are considered most serious and can cause respiratory diseases and other health problems.