New air quality monitors installed in Gurugram

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, May 5

Under the ‘Cleaner Air and Better Health’ (CABH) project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Signature Global (India) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) have deployed first-of-its-kind air quality monitoring network in Gurugram.

The network comprises nine monitors and an automatic weather station, the data from which will be available to project developers and the research team through a dashboard that will capture pollution concentrations during different on-site construction activities. The network will strengthen the regulation of pollution activities on construction sites and promote clean construction practices.

Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, CEEW, said, “In India’s rapidly expanding urbanscape, construction and demolition activities represent an important source of air pollution. A construction site, by virtue of its proximity to existing living spaces, can expose residents to pollution. Monitoring air quality around construction sites and introducing protocols that promote self-regulation by the industry and demonstrate their best practices is an important first step in mitigating this problem.”

The pilot is part of an MoU between Signature Global (India) and CEEW to collaborate on finding solutions to reduce air pollution from construction activities under the CABH project. The project aims to mitigate the impact of air pollution in India by working on different approaches to reduce exposure, empower communities through awareness to build their agency to take preventive actions, and improve evidence with respect to the issue through research and interventions on ground.

Recently, the Haryana State Pollution Control Board issued a public notice directing all project sites of more than 500 sq metres to install reliable PM 2.5 and PM10 sensors to measure microscopic fractions of particulate matter or PM (a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets) in the air, which cause serious health problems when inhaled.

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