After November smog, family puts up pollution monitor at home
NEWDELHI: Right next to a small park in C Block of New Friends Colony, a black panel with red digital lights shows PM2.5 readings round-the-clock.
It helps the morning walkers decide if they should go out.
Installed in November, this air monitoring device attached to a panel atop the boundary wall of house C-770, has come as a boon for many.
“I take a peek in the morning from my balcony. If it says that particulate matter 2.5 is above 200 micrograms per cubic metre, I call it a day. If it is less than 200, I venture out for my walks. It lets us know if the air outside is conducive for
0
Nov 1 2017
brisk walk and light exercising,” said S Sharma, a local.
But what made this New Friends Colony household put up a PM2.5 panel?
The owner, Anjali Gupta, who has been living here since 2006, says her family runs a company which makes such monitoring devices and panels.
“We took the decision to install this right after the November smog episode. We already had one inside home. Some friends, who had come over, said you should also put one outside for others in the neighbourhood. So we did,” Gupta said.
As per Gupta’s real-time monitoring, in this corner of the Capital PM2.5 levels hover around 200 micrograms per cubic metre at around 6am to 7am. It goes
Dec 31 2017
down to nearly 100 during the day and on windy days, even touches 70 micrograms per cubic metre.
Gupta says said has air purifiers in all rooms. “When we see pollution is high, the purifiers are put on full blow. When air quality is better, we turn them down,” she said. While the monitor at her home seems to be helping her, many of her neighbours are perplexed with the one outside.
“One of them came up and asked me, how come yours is showing 200 micrograms per cubic metre when the government website says 400 micrograms per cubic metre? I explained it to him that this is the air quality of our lane while the one you see on the website is of the traffic signal,” Gupta said.