PUNE: After the Delhi air quality has raised concern over the health hazard it posses, Sakal Times tried to take the stock of the situation in the city and came up with an alarming information that air quality monitoring equipment are installed only at three places.
City-based environmentalists claim that these equipment installed by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) in the city are incapable of keeping a track of air quality of the entire city as they are installed at only three stations. Countering it, the MPCB said that the stations are defined by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and we are just creating awareness. The MPCB has started air quality monitoring and noise monitoring protocol for Diwali this year. The air quality protocol will be from October 31 to November 15 and noise quality protocol will be on November 1, 7 and 9 at 15 stations all over the city.
As the environmentalists were pointing out at the incapability of the equipment, Nitin Shinde, the sub-regional officer of MPCB when asked about the details of high value air sampler, i.e, the air sampling machine, said, “There are three such machines installed on Karve Road, Nal Stop, Swargate and only one in Pimpri. We collect the samples from these machines and upload it on our website.”
Reacting on it, Vikas Patil, city-based environmentalist, said, “The interesting fact here is that the two samplers are installed in the radius of 5 km in the same area and other is installed in Swargate, but now the city is growing so does the pollution so why they are not keen on installing other such samplers in Camp, Khadki, Sinhagad Road and places where there is dense population?”
Another activist, Chandrakant Pawar, Assistant Professor of environmental science in Indira College, Wakad, said, “Firstly, the number of stations should be increased covering the whole Pune city from Lonavla to Sinhagad Road. The data collection should be made scientifically and made publically available in simple terms.”
Shinde further said, “We are into awareness and we are not a law enforcing body. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has defined stations for us which are installed in densely populated areas because of which we are not able to decide where the stations should be placed.”
Now, following the Supreme Court’s judgement on banning firecrackers, the MPCB has started the air quality protocol from October 31 to November 15 at the four stations and noise quality protocol will be carried out on November 1,7 and 9 at 15 stations all over Pune city. Earlier, the MPCB monitored air and noise pollution only on the few days of Diwali festivities. This year it has been extended to a 14-day protocol.
PUNE’S DETERIORATING AIR QUALITY
- Nitin Shinde, the sub-regional officer of MPCB said, “There are three such machines installed on Karve Road, Nal Stop, Swargate and only one in Pimpri.
- Shinde further said, “We are into awareness and we are not a law enforcing body.”
