HYDERABAD: Telangana’s air-quality monitoring network remains heavily concentrated in Hyderabad, with only five of the state’s 26 stations under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) located outside the capital, according to data from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Hyderabad has 21 stations, while Nalgonda has two and Sangareddy three. Nearly 81% of the state’s NCAP monitoring stations are therefore located in Hyderabad.
The limited geographical spread leaves large parts of Telangana without ground-level monitoring infrastructure. The disparity becomes clearer when compared with other states. Andhra Pradesh has 74 stations across 13 cities, Maharashtra 166, Uttar Pradesh 112, Rajasthan 46 and Karnataka 35. Telangana’s 26 stations are spread across only three locations in the NCAP network.
The distribution is significant as air pollution can vary considerably depending on traffic, industrial activity, construction, road dust, land use and weather conditions. A network concentrated in one city can provide detailed information about local pollution but may fail to capture pollution levels and hotspots elsewhere.
Hyderabad has 14 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) and seven manual stations. Nalgonda and Sangareddy, however, have only manual stations, with no continuous monitoring stations listed in either city.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stressed that continuous and reliable air-quality monitoring is essential to identify pollutants, inform policy decisions and assess the effectiveness of pollution-control measures. “Reliable data is the foundation for robust air-quality legislation, functional monitoring systems and accountability mechanisms,” the WHO said in its 2026 update on air-quality monitoring.
Air-quality expert Dr Gufran Beig said sparse monitoring could leave pollution hotspots undetected. “When the monitoring network is sparse, the air-quality data cannot adequately represent variations between different micro-environments. You may know what is happening at monitored locations, but miss pollution hotspots elsewhere. The network therefore has to be expanded and scientifically distributed across industrial, residential, traffic and background areas,” he said.
Hyderabad has a relatively strong continuous monitoring network compared with several major cities. Its 14 continuous stations match Bengaluru and are ahead of Chennai and Ahmedabad, which have nine each, and Kolkata and Jaipur, with seven and six respectively. However, Delhi has 39 continuous stations and Greater Mumbai 30.
Dr Beig said the network must expand as cities and industrial and transport corridors grow. “Otherwise, the data may not keep pace with changing emission patterns and emerging pollution hotspots,” he said.
Prof Purshottam Reddy said sparse monitoring could also affect pollution-control decisions. “If an industrial cluster or growing urban area has insufficient monitoring, authorities may have less location-specific evidence to determine whether pollution is increasing, declining or shifting to another area,” he said.
He added that consistent monitoring was necessary to assess the impact of interventions. “Unless pollution is measured consistently at different locations, it becomes difficult to establish whether a particular intervention has actually reduced pollution or whether the problem has simply moved to another location.”
Ground-based observations are also important for validating satellite-based assessments and air-quality models. The national NCAP network listed by the ministry comprises 838 stations — 351 continuous and 487 manual — across 130 cities. Telangana’s 26 stations account for about 3.1% of the national network.
The figures underline a clear geographical gap in Telangana. While Hyderabad has a relatively strong monitoring network, only Nalgonda and Sangareddy have stations outside the capital under the NCAP network, and neither has a continuous monitoring station. This limits the state’s ability to track changing pollution patterns and identify emerging hotspots beyond Hyderabad.
