Gurugram: Four of the seven continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) proposed for Haryana’s NCR district are expected to be installed in Gurugram, said Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) officials on Wednesday.
The locations will be finalised based on feasibility studies, population density, and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) monitoring network design criteria, added officials.
A senior board official said adding four monitors will improve data reliability and enable performance-linked air quality tracking with stronger reporting and auditing. Currently, three HSPCB stations run in Gurugram, Gurugram University in sector 51, Vikas Sadan and Teri Gram, while one is run by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) at NISE, Gwal Pahari.
“The new stations will bolster air quality monitoring capacity at seven to eight sites. A proposal will be prepared soon through a detailed study of geographical locations,” said a senior HSPCB official.
Officials added that the stations will be purchased through the environment compensation (EC) funds of the board. “Once finalised, the proposal will be shared with the government’s high-level committee for a final nod, including the tendering authority,” the senior official added.
As per the criteria, the proposed locations will include a traffic-dominant area to measure vehicular emission rate, two at residential areas with high population and one at commercial or industrial zones, said officials.
CAQM’s latest order on Tuesday said that in addition to existing population-based norms for Delhi-NCR, revised air network norms for air quality monitoring will also include a grid-based spatial coverage model, with one monitoring station for every 25 sq km (5 km × 5 km grid).
The 2011 census data showed Gurugram’s total territorial coverage accounting for 1253 sq km. Based on CAQM’s grid model, the city will require at least 50 monitoring stations for effective coverage. However, the commission’s latest order emphasises that through the new model, 16 more stations will be added, bringing the state’s total CAAQMS count from 29 to 45, officials added.