KOCHI: With air quality across the state worsening by the day and people seldom grasping its implications, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) is set to install continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) in each district. CAAQMS monitors the level of pollutants - Sulphur dioxide, oxides of Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, suspended particulate matter (SPM), Hydrocarbon, ozone among others in the ambient atmosphere. The KSPCB will install the monitoring system in the city corporations in the initial phase and other districts in the second phase.
"We have started installing the CAAQMS in Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts. The system will be installed in three spots in Kochi- Vyttila, Madhava Pharmacy junction and Eloor industrial belt," said K Sajeevan, Chairman, Pollution Control Board. KSPCB will implement the two projects in Vyttila and Madhava Pharmacy junction with the financial aid of BPCL and Prod air.
Estimating its cost at Rs 1 crore, he said ambient air quality would be monitored continuously and results displayed on the screen. "The projects will be commissioned within three months. The rising population, vehicular emission, construction and the industrial establishments have been affecting the quality of air. But the public is not aware of it and hardly concerned. with the system in place, people can get to know about the presence of deadly pollutants in the atmosphere," said Sajeevan. The KSPCB installed two monitoring stations in Thiruvananthapuram and Eloor, but they do not have the advanced facilities to calculate the air quality.
"We can monitor the particulate matter 2.5 with this system as the installed system does not have such a facility. We don't have any other facility to monitor air quality. When the system begins to function people will become aware of keeping air clean," said K S Govindan Nair Chief Environmental Engineer, Ernakulam.
The state has embarked on installing the devise as a part of the Central government's plan to monitor the air quality of the nation on a single window. "We can monitor the air quality report linked through a software and made available on the public domain. It will take place in the second phase as it is a long process. The Central Pollution Board is planning to bring all the data in one stretch," said Abhilash, Assistant Environmental Engineer, Ernakulam.