State launches buses with air purifiers to beat pollution

Kolkata: West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has come up with an innovative solution for removing fine particulate matter inside AC buses through effective sucking up of dirty air and releasing clean purified air that is safe for breathing. The move comes after the state Transport department had requested the state PCB for mitigating the problem faced by passengers who had complained of circulation of the polluted air inside buses.

WBPCB is also installing a special device called BRMAPS (Bus Roof Mounted Air Purification System), mountable on the roof of a bus with an air quality monitoring system, to measure air quality on real-time basis.

BRMAPS, named ‘Suddha Vayu’, is the first of its kind in India, said a statement issued by the WBPCB.

One AC bus fitted with both these devices has already been flagged off by state Environment minister Manas Ranjan Bhunia on World Environment Day (June 5).

“We will soon install Bus Inside Air Purification System (BIAPS) and BRMAPS inside 20 AC buses. The air filters of BIAPS are equipped with HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Absorbing) filters and activated carbon filters providing highest level protection against gaseous emissions and suspended particulates. The air quality sensors deployed for the purpose measure PM 10, PM 2.5 and temperature to begin with,” a senior WBPCB official said.

The air quality improvement pre and post treatment is estimated to be over 50 percent of the air pollution inside the bus. The BIAPS services has been designed to be in use for a minimum of 8-20 hours per day. The real-time data will be transmitted online to the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of the state PCB.

Rajesh Kumar, Member Secretary of WBPCB, said BRMAPS will be installed in 50 buses most of which will be non-AC state buses. The filtration system of BRMAPS can capture the particles produced by other vehicles as well as other pollutants in the air while the bus travels along its daily route.

The air quality system deployed for the purpose will measure PM 10 and PM 2.5 and temperature to begin with.

The real-time data collected by BRMAPS shall be transmitted online to the ICCC of WBPCB and all data will be available with WBPCB for evaluation of the same at any later date. The air filtering system upon the bus cleans the air as it plies on its daily route.