KOCHI: Three of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board’s (KSPCB) four air quality monitoring systems in Kochi have been out of commission for nearly three years, severely limiting the agency’s ability to track AQI levels in the city. Currently, only the equipment in Eloor is functional.
According to S Sreekala, chairperson of KSPCB, the board had over the years twice floated tenders for the repair and maintenance of the systems at MG Road, Vyttila Hub and JLN Stadium.
“However, we didn’t receive any expression of interest. Recently, we reissued the tender and a party has expressed interest in taking up the job. However, the process of finalising the contractor is in progress. We believe the systems will be online soon,” she added.
Keltron had installed the AQI systems, she said. “Keltron also managed maintenance. But with the company not renewing the contract, the systems fell into disrepair.”
According to her, the reason why nobody expressed interest in the job could be because the systems had been installed by a different company. “The spare parts may not be available in the market, since Keltron had stopped manufacturing them.”
With the board’s systems remaining defunct, stakeholders have been depending on private monitoring systems.
As per AQI.in, the air quality in Kochi over the past few days has been poor. On Sunday evening, the website indicated an AQI reading of 101. This was 148 earlier the same afternoon.
The level of particulate matter PM2.5 was recorded at 36 µg/m³ (moderate), with PM10 at 52 µg/m³ (good). However, the KSPCB chief dismissed the data. Sreekala said the readings of such websites are unreliable.
“Although our monitoring systems have been down, we have been carrying out manual monitoring. We have found the AQI in Kochi city to be satisfactory.
However, that is not the case in the Eloor-Edayar industrial belt, where the AQI remains moderate to poor,” she said. Based on our data, we have sent notices to factories and local bodies, she said. “Action will be initiated against units that don’t adhere to PCB guidelines on air pollution,” she added.
Poor air quality
On Sunday evening, the AQI.in website indicated an AQI reading of 101. This was 148 earlier the same afternoon. The level of particulate matter PM2.5 was recorded at 36 µg/m³ (moderate), with PM10 at 52 µg/m³ (good). However, the KSPCB chief dismissed the data, saying readings of such websites are unreliable.