Karnataka pollution board to set up 11 air quality monitoring stations in industrial clusters

The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has confirmed that they are in talks with the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) to install CAAQMS in industrial areas.

Out of 11 stations, the board has planned to install three stations by the end of 2021.

It is learnt from sources that four stations will be set up in Bengaluru, out of which two will be installed in Jigani and Yeshwantpur.

Industrial areas in Davangere, Tumkuru, Belgaum and Dharwad are the other places where the stations will be set up.

“The plan is very much in progress. Once Ganesha Chaturthi will be over, we will move ahead with the plan. Under the NCAP programme, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has received funds. The plan is to set up air monitoring stations in industrial areas since industrial emissions are a major source of pollution,” the member secretary of the KSPCB, K Srinivasulu, told The Indian Express.

The KSPCB has installed seven CAAQM in Bengaluru and the monitoring is done on a 24-hour basis for PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, Ammonia, O3, CO and Benzene and the compiled statistical data is sent to the CPCB.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) an Air Quality Index (AQI) between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 is ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.