Only two of Gurugram’s four continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) were operational on Sunday, with the Teri Gram and Vikas Sadan units remaining non-functional due to technical issues and delays in maintenance handover, officials said. The city’s operational stations — Sector 51 and Gwal Pahari — recorded a poor air quality index (AQI) of 258, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) daily national bulletin.
According to CPCB’s live dashboard, the Teri Gram station, which had functioned partially between October 3 and 14, stopped recording PM10, PM2.5, NO2, CO, ozone, and benzene levels from October 15 — the day its maintenance tender was granted. Its last recorded value was PM10 at 110.78 µg/m³ on Tuesday last week. “Due to issues with the analyzers in the advanced sensors that feed into the AQI, the data could not be properly loaded,” an official said, requesting anonymity.
A senior official at the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said two separate tenders were awarded to private firms on October 14 and 15 for the operation and maintenance of CAAQMS in Gurugram. Five days after the tenders were finalised, two stations — including Teri Gram — remained non-functional. Earlier, HSPCB’s regional office had been temporarily maintaining operations while awaiting tender approval.
“The air quality monitors made operational after six months had persistent issues with their batteries, UPS, motors, filters and light sensors,” another senior official said, adding that the sensors were being repaired before being handed back to private firms. Officials added that two France-based companies previously managed 29 CAAQMS across Haryana until their contracts expired in December 2024. Since then, frequent interruptions have been reported in Gurugram’s stations managed by HSPCB.
CPCB data showed multiple interruptions since September 30 at three Gurugram stations. Ahead of Diwali, the Vikas Sadan station recorded only PM2.5 levels, with no readings of PM10, ozone, benzene, or toluene between October 7 and 13. The station displayed “insufficient data” until October 18, when AQI values reappeared, reaching 167 and above. Similarly, at the Sector 51 station, PM2.5 data was missing between October 4 and 15, and was restored on October 16, when AQI levels touched 395 µg/m³ around 10am.
The Gwal Pahari station, managed by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), was the only one showing consistent readings, with PM2.5 reaching 102.44 µg/m³ on Sunday — over 50% higher than the safe limit of 60 µg/m³. “While the tenders to manage two stations at Sector 51 and Vikas Sadan have been awarded to an old firm, a confusion among the two firms about who is going to manage these also slowed down the process,” the senior official added.
According to Dr Anumita Roychowdhury, director of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), the data gaps in air quality monitoring would obstruct authorities from drawing a long-term comparative trend for policy action on air pollution. “For air quality monitoring to become performance-linked, we need robust reporting and auditing systems,” Roychowdhury earlier told HT.
Repeated attempts by HT to reach environment engineer at the HSPCB regional office in Gurugram, went unanswered.