24x7 air quality monitoring stations across state soon

The proposal to set up continuous ambient quality monitoring stations in Mysuru and neighbouring districts is inching closer to reality.

MYSURU: The proposal to set up continuous ambient quality monitoring stations in Mysuru and neighbouring districts is inching closer to reality. Sites have been identified to develop the hi-tech facility at a cost of `1.5 crore.Of the total 29 places across the state, where the stations will be set up in three phases, sites have been identified in Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Madikeri (Kodagu district) and Hassan districts. A total of eight stations will be set up in the first phase, including five in Bengaluru alone, followed by an equal number of stations in the second phase and 13 in the third phase. 

The stations in Mandya, Tumakuru, Ballari and Chitradurga will be planned at later stages.B M Prakash, environmental officer (urban), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), Mysuru regional office, told Express that in Mysuru, the station will be set up near the existing rain gauge of Meteorology near the Deputy Commissioner’s office, while in Chamarajanagar it will come up on the Deputy Commissioner’s office premises.

In Hassan, the station will be set up on the Government Engineering College campus on Bengaluru-Hassan Road and on the Ayush Hospital premises in Madikeri, Kodagu district.Prakash, who is also one of the members of the expert committee, exuded confidence that competent authorities will give their nod soon to go ahead with the work on sites identified for the purpose.Unlike other districts, the work in Mysuru is expected to be taken up in the second phase itself.  Once commissioned, the stations will provide round the clock data on air quality that is intended at monitoring pollution level, followed by temperature, wind speed and meteorological related data.

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