The Uttar Pradesh government will conduct environmental monitoring of defence and industrial corridors at Lucknow, Kanpur and Aligarh by setting up laboratories to regularly monitor pollution.
The laboratories will keep a watch on air quality, noise, groundwater quality, soil quality and groundwater level in the areas falling under defence industrial corridor.
The Yogi Adityanath government is not only carrying out industrial development and building industrial infrastructure in the state, but is also trying to ensure that there is no damage to the environment due to increase in industrial activities and the continuous monitoring of air, water and soil testing goes on smoothly.
Official sources said that labs would be set up for regular monitoring of parameters like air quality, noise, groundwater quality, soil quality and groundwater level in the areas falling under the defence industrial corridor in Lucknow, Kanpur and Aligarh.
In this context, the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) has invited applications from laboratories affiliated with the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF), and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), for regular monitoring of mainly five standards in Lucknow, Kanpur and Aligarh nodes as part of the tendering process.
The application process will be completed on September 11, after which the selected labs will be responsible for the tendering process of regular monitoring of the set parameters in the areas falling under the defence industrial corridor in Lucknow, Kanpur and Aligarh.
The contract will be for one year according to the tendering process issued by UPEIDA, and it may be extended based on performance. The UPEIDA may distribute the work among one or several labs.
Additionally, the quotation in the tenders will also include the cost of the process, machinery, equipment etc. for carrying out the work prescribed by the lab concerned. The quotations related to the cost of carrying out the work by the lab companies in the tender should be in accordance with the rates fixed by the Central Pollution Control Board and Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board. The final decision on all these subjects will be taken by the committee constituted under the chairmanship of additional chief executive officer (ACEO) of UPEIDA.
The work will be done to measure and monitor the level of air, water, soil and noise pollution. As per the tendering process issued by UPEIDA, the labs will not only do regular monitoring of the set parameters, but also provide periodic reports.
For air quality monitoring, the labs will conduct 24-hour monitoring of particulate matter (PM10 and PM 2.5), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other nitrous components. Besides, the level of noise pollution will also be measured on a day and night basis.
Additionally, for monitoring water and ground pollution levels, parameters such as acidity, alkalinity, aluminum, arsenic, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), bicarbonates, calcium carbonate, chloride, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, nitrogen compound, sulphates, sodium and zinc will be monitored.
Furthermore, for testing the soil quality, the SAR value of ammonia, bicarbonates, boron, calcium, calcium carbonate, chloride, colour, electrical conductivity, magnesium, nitrates, nitrites, pesticide pH, phosphates, sodium, potassium, cadmium, manganese, cobalt and soil sample will be the key factors, whose monitoring will be based as per the standards set by the pollution boards.