Air pollution: The Bihar government will get real-time air quality monitoring (AQM) reports from all 534 blocks in the state starting September.
The Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) in association with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, has already installed indigenously developed sensor-based AQMs in 432 blocks, covering 33 districts, in the state.
"Work is on to install AQMs in the remaining 102 blocks in the state by the end of this month. From September 1 this year, the BSPCB will start getting real-time AQM reports from all 534 blocks, covering 38 administrative districts. Bihar will become the first state in India to get AQM reports from indigenously developed sensor-based systems from the block level. Currently, there are only 41 air sensors in Bihar and they have been installed in urban areas", BSPCB chairman Devendra Kumar Shukla said.
"The AQM reports will help identify factors responsible for increase in air pollution at any spot, such as vehicles, dust, biomass burning, and emissions from industries so that preventive measures can be taken accordingly. Air pollution remains a major challenge in our state", he added.
Shukla said that improving the air quality of several rural and urban hot spots of air pollution in the state is the top priority of the Bihar government.
The AQM reports from the rural areas will aide the policymakers and researchers understand the situation developing on the ground, he said.
"Authorities concerned will also be in a position to evaluate the difference between rural and urban air quality after completion of the project," he added.
The BSPCB recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), to conduct a real-time source apportionment study. This will help identify the sources of air pollution in the extended urban areas of Patna. The study will be completed by September 2024.
"This is also a crucial study that will find out the level of toxicity in the air. Apart from conducting emission inventory, carrying capacity and source apportionment of particulate matter pollution, experts will also collect data on the contribution of river bed material (soil) and source of road dust", the BSPCB chairman said.
Shukla said said that this study is aimed at investigating a seasonal mass concentration level of PM2.5 and PM10 in ambient air of urban area of Patna.
PM stands for Particulate Matter.
PM2.5 and PM10 are minute particles present in the air and exposure to it is harmful to health.
(With PTI inputs)
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