Tenders floated for air quality monitoring station in Gr Noida

Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) has started issuing tenders for installing air quality monitoring stations in Greater Noida.

Three stations will be set up in the city, of which one will be automatic while two others will be operated manually.

The air monitoring stations are being set up following the directions of the Centre. The state and central agencies will equally share the financial burden for setting up the stations.

Around Rs 2 crore will be spent on setting up the three new stations, said an official.

Currently, there are no air quality monitoring stations in Greater Noida. Even as air quality in the NCR continues to be critical, UPPCB does not have a single automatic machine to monitor air quality. It still calculates pollution levels manually and it is time-consuming to prepare a report.

The lack of proper monitoring system restricts the board from getting exact details of pollution created by industries. It relies on reports given by the industries themselves. After the installation of three monitoring stations, regular updates on pollution levels will be easily provided to public.

It will help in monitoring pollution created by vehicles as well as the industries located in the area. The locations of the new stations are yet to be decided.

"We are ready to set up three stations in the city. The board is in a hurry to get them installed. The automatic station will be the first to be set up by UPPCB and the Centre. The station will give instant updates to residents round-the-clock. Air quality will be monitored on regular basis and strict actions will be taken against the violators" said Praveen Kumar, Regional Officer, UPPCB.

The automatic air ambient monitoring system provides real-time data on 12 parameters such as particulate matter, NO2, SO2 and CO2. At present, the manual systems only provide data on the level of PM10, SO2 and NO2.