Mumbai Pollution: City To Get Five New Air Quality Monitoring Stations – All Of Them In Gardens

Mumbai: Even as Mumbai grapples with pollution concerns amid Diwali festivities, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is reportedly preparing to add five more air quality monitoring stations across the city – all of them in gardens.

The stations will be set up at CD Deshmukh Garden in Mulund (East), Pramod Mahajan Park in Borivali (West), Aarey Garden’s Chhota Kashmir in Goregaon (East), Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Recreation Ground in Dahisar (East), and the assistant municipal commissioner’s office in Khar (H-West ward), The Times of India reported. 

The cost of setting up the monitoring stations is estimated to be to the tune of Rs 17.50 crore.

Atmospheric scientists have warned that placing the stations exclusively in gardens could lead to pollution levels being underestimated.

Locations of the monitoring stations

The five new continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations will monitor air pollutants on an hourly basis, and will also track indicators such as temperature and relative humidity.

At present, Mumbai has 29 air quality monitoring stations, which are monitored by the BMC, Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Risk of understating pollution

Commenting on the locations of the proposed monitoring stations, atmospheric scientist Gufran Beig said that installing the new stations only in gardens could possibly understate pollution levels. “The presence of trees and relatively open surroundings can influence local airflow and pollutant dispersion, thereby affecting the readings,” Beig was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

Beig also noted that World Meteorological Organization guidelines state that air quality monitoring stations should be set up at diverse locations so that a representative picture of pollution levels emerges.

However, municipal officials claim that the stations comply with the guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board on the placement of air quality monitors.

“These machines are installed in gardens and open spaces primarily because these locations can serve as urban background monitoring sites, helping measure the general ambient air quality of a neighbourhood rather than pollution concentrated immediately around a particular source,” an official was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.