Bihar to get real-time AQM reports from all 534 blocks from next month
Bihar government is all set to get real-time air quality monitoring (AQM) reports from all 534 blocks in the state from next month. The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) in association with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has already installed indigenously developed sensor-based AQMs in 432 blocks, covering 33 districts, in the state. «Work is on to install AQMs in the remaining 102 blocks in the state by the end of this month.
From September 1 this year, the BSPCB will start getting real-time AQM reports from all 534 blocks, covering 38 administrative districts. »Bihar will become the first state in India to get AQM reports from indigenously developed sensor-based systems from the block level. Currently, there are only 41 air sensors in Bihar and they have been installed in urban areas", BSPCB chairman Devendra Kumar Shukla told PTI.
«The AQM reports will help identify factors responsible for increase in air pollution at any spot, such as vehicles, dust, biomass burning, and emissions from industries so that preventive measures can be taken accordingly. Air pollution remains a major challenge in our state», he said. The Indo-Gangetic plain also consists of several rural and urban hot spots of air pollution in the state and improving air quality in these areas is the top priority of the state government, Shukla said.
The AQM reports from the rural areas will help local communities, policymakers and researchers understand the ground situation, he said, adding the data will also enable actionable and evidence-based decision-making. «Authorities concerned will also be in a position to evaluate the difference between rural and urban air quality after completion of the project,» he added. Besides, the
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