Private entities in Gurgaon pitch in to track air pollution in the city

Owing to growing air pollution in Gurgaon, a few private entities, such as DLF, have volunteered to track air pollutants in the city to provide support to the pollution board. They have already installed their own apparatus to assess pollution levels.

The real estate company has installed four air-quality monitors in Gurgaon, while Amity University has set up a laboratory on its campus.

The four DLF monitors have been installed between DLF Phase I and DLF5, and their readings are expected to help understand localised impact and causes of pollution.

These monitors can measure PM 2.5, along with temperature and humidity, and transmit real-time data through the cloud, claimed DLF officials.

“Equipped with highly advanced technology, these monitors will assess air quality throughout the day,” said Col Prakash Tewari, executive director, DLF Foundation.

Air pollution has become a huge concern in the city, as more and more residents fall prey to ailments such as asthma, bronchitis and even lung cancer.

According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, outdoor air pollution is considered the fifth-largest killer in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution, smoking and poor nutrition. It is said that about
6,20,000 deaths take place in India every year from air-pollution-related diseases.

The city has only one air-quality monitoring centre, which is clearly not enough. There has been a longstanding demand from residents to instal more air-monitoring systems across the city.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said, “There is an urgent need for more air-quality-monitoring stations in Gurgaon.”

Despite the Supreme Court’s ban on the sale of firecrackers this Diwali, air quality in Gurgaon deteriorated five times on the festive night. According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality index (AQI) marked the city’s air quality as “very poor” a day after Diwali. The air quality was at 345 micrograms per cubic metre (ug/m3).

Amity University has installed a monitoring station as part of a collaborative research project between the university and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune. The initiative is being sponsored by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.

Prof (Dr) PB Sharma, vice-chancellor of the university, said, “The monitoring station is equipped with real-time sampling of PM 1 and PM 10, besides real-time monitoring of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, benzene, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia and ozone.”