‘India’s 1st low-cost air monitoring study across 15 MMR spots in Nov’

MUMBAI: Come November, a firstof-its kind study in India using low-cost sensor-based technology will be undertaken across 15 locations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to accurately measure the harmful pollutant concentration in the air.

The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) on Thursday said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last week with the Indian Institute of Technology-kanpur (IIT-K) to undertake the sensor technology assessment between November 1 this year and May 31, 2021. Based on the study’s success, such monitors would be rolled out across MMR, followed by 18 non-attainment cities (cities with particulate matter concentration below the national ambient standards), to identify pollution hot spots through hyper-local air monitoring, source distribution and associated health impacts. Independent researchers developing the monitors said they are priced from ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh (which includes maintenance cost).

The sensors will be installed across MPCB’S 15 real-time air monitoring stations –10 in Mumbai, one each in Navi Mumbai,

Thane, Kalyan, Vasai-virar, and Dombivli. They will monitor PM (particulate matter) 10, PM2.5, ozone, oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and sulphur oxides (SOX). “We want to identify if the data from these sensors is technically sound and if the readings match with our existing technology. If the results are accurate, we will submit a report to the Centre and scale the programme,” said VM Motghare, joint director (air quality), MPCB.

Professor SN Tripathi, head of civil engineering, IIT-K and apex committee member, National Clean Air Programme, said such a study has not been conducted anywhere in the country before. “The idea is to look into the stability and accuracy of low-cost sensors. The end goal is to assess how they measure pollutants, stability of calibration models and the final use for hyper-local monitoring,” he said.

MPCB also said the existing air quality monitoring network across state’s 18 most polluted cities will be expanded, with the installation of 98 real-time and 126 manual monitors. “Tenders will be invited for the first phase [47 monitors] in less than a week. The state will have India’s largest air quality monitoring network by next year,” said Motghare.