VISAKHAPATNAM: The recent report on the ‘Status of Air Quality Monitoring in India’ by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has exposed the sorry state of air quality monitoring system in India.
According to the report, Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of manual PM 2.5 monitors, with 47 stations in place. However, none of these stations meet the minimum requirement of 104 days of monitoring per year. This, in fact, has raised a concern over the accuracy and comprehensiveness of air quality data in the State.
The report highlighted that manual monitoring stations have doubled in the country since 2010, with 883 operating stations installed in 379 cities and towns across 28 States and seven Union Territories. Additionally, there has been a 20-fold increase in real-time monitoring stations, with 423 stations being set up in 221 cities. However, several stations, such as those in Vijayawada and other locations, have not reported any monitoring data in recent years. Though TNIE tried to get in touch with the regional officials, it yielded no result.
The CSE report suggests that despite a significant increase in the number of manual and real-time monitoring stations in the past 13 years, nearly 47 per cent of the population lives outside the air quality monitoring network, with 62 per cent lacking access to daily alerts on the local air quality index. The national monitoring grid currently covers only 6-8 per cent of the recommended requirement, indicating a dire need for improvement.
Out of India’s 4,041 census cities and towns, a mere 12 per cent have air quality monitoring systems, and only 200 cities monitor all six key pollutants. “Compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and clean air targets under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) require robust air quality monitoring, which is currently lacking in a vast majority of areas. Despite an increase in the number of monitoring stations, only 476 cities and towns out of 4,041 have air quality monitoring systems,” the report cited.
