Telangana requires 54 more air quality monitoring stations 

HYDERABAD: There has been much talk by the Central and State governments on the crisis of air pollution. Just in the beginning of this year, the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was also launched. However, what can one expect from the governments when the most basic part of the solution to deal with this crisis is missing - air quality monitoring stations. 

Telangana requires at least 54 more air quality monitoring stations to get an idea of the magnitude of air pollution in the State, going as per the minimum number of stations recommended population-wise by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). There is a dearth of both kinds of air quality monitoring stations in Hyderabad and other parts of the State. The first is the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) which can provide data on air pollutants in a real-time basis. This data can be viewed online by the public. The second is the Manual Air Quality Monitoring Stations, where the data on air pollutants has to be collected manually by officials. 

The need for more air quality monitoring stations was brought to light in a report by the Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), in which it pointed out that Telangana requires 22 real-time and 32 manual air quality monitoring stations. Presently there are only six real-time air quality monitoring stations in the State and all of them are located in and around the Greater Hyderabad region. Even these are not sufficient for understanding the magnitude of air pollution problem in the city. Of the six, three are located in the industrial areas, two are located on the city’s outskirts and only one is located within the city. 

There is not a single real-time air quality monitoring stations anywhere else in the 33 districts of the State, despite the fact that there are many other cities and towns like Ramagundam, Karimnagar or Warangal, where the air pollution is severe. As per the report, there is a need for seven more real-time air quality monitoring stations in Hyderabad and 15 more in other parts of the State, bringing the total requirement to 22 CAAQMS. 

There is also a dearth of manual air quality monitoring stations in Hyderabad and in other districts. According to the report, there are 14 manual stations in the State, of which seven are in Hyderabad. Among the rest, one each is installed in Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Khammam, Nizamabad and Ramagundam, while two are in Warangal. 

The TSPCB report points out that the State requires 32 more manual stations. In addition to increasing their count in places they already exist, they have to be installed in cities and towns that presently do not have any, like Jagtial, Adilabad, Mahbubnagar, Suryapet, Miryalguda, Siddipet and Kamareddy. The TSPCB has submitted the list of the required units to the CPCB. It may be mentioned here that the National Green Tribunal had issued directions last year that the CPCB, along with the State pollution control boards, should work on strengthening the air quality monitoring network across the country. 

An official of the TSPCB said that the CPCB will have to provide funds for the real-time air quality monitoring stations to be installed in Hyderabad and Nalgonda, which have been listed among 102 non-attainment cities in the country by CPCB. This is as part of the NCAP, launched in January this year by the Centre, aiming to reduce Particulate Matter (PM) concentration in the non-attainment cities by 20-30 per cent by the year 2024, as compared to the PM concentrations in 2017.

Even the Telangana government, which has never allotted any money in its budget for strengthening of air pollution monitoring stations till now, will have to shed money for funding installation of air-quality monitoring stations at other cities and towns. 

PM10 above permissible  level in 9 regions 
While Hyderabad is often spoken of as a polluted city, there are other cities in the State which also require attention from pollution control officials. This is where the importance of increasing the number of air quality monitoring stations comes in. The Airpocalypse-III report released by NGO Greenpeace earlier this year had pointed out that if the 2017 figures of Particulate Matter(PM10) concentrations in air are anything to go by, nine cities or towns in State had PM10 concentrations above permissible limits - Kothur, Sangareddy, Ramagundam, Karimnagar, Warangal, Adilabad, Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar and Medak

All of six real-time stations in Hyd
At present, there are only six real-time air quality monitoring stations in the State, and all of them are located in and around the Greater Hyderabad region. There is not a single real-time stations anywhere else in the 33 districts across the State, despite the fact that there are many other cities and towns like Ramagundam, Karimnagar or Warangal, where the air pollution issue is quite severe

State requires 22 more real-time air quality monitoring stations

The Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) can provide data on air pollutants in a real-time basis, which can be viewed online by the public. As per a TSPCB report, Telangana requires 22 more such real-time stations, apart from the five currently located in Hyderabad