Centre plans to add 20 more air quality monitoring stations in Delhi
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi: With Delhi’s air quality in the ‘severe’ category in several parts, the Union government plans add 15-20 more air quality monitoring (AQM) stations in the National Capital Region (NCR), in addition to the existing 40, two officials said. Installation of more AQMs will help the government determine the sources, identify areas and come up with solutions to mitigate NCR pollution.
The cost for each station is expected to be ₹1 crore and will be borne by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC), the officials said. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), over 14 areas in Delhi had an air quality index (AQI) reading of over 400 on Sunday. The average AQI in the national capital was 417 on Saturday.
With 418 AQI, the air quality sank to the ‘severe’ category for the first time this season on Wednesday. Also read | Delhi Metro announces 20 extra trips in view of GRAP-III implementation to check air pollution An AQI reading of 0-50 is categorized as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’. “The coverage is being expanded and refined due to the high population.
Non-residential and forests will also be monitored through new stations," one of the officials said. “This is for Delhi for the time being and will get us data at the micro level. With this, we will get to know about air quality and based on it, we will come up with a mitigation plan." “The monitoring data is live with an interval of 5-15 minutes.
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