Delay in tendering leaves Haryana cities out of daily CPCB bulletin
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) releases data regarding the air quality monitored in various cities across the country daily. However, the air quality data of Haryana’s cities have been missing from the daily air quality index (AQI) bulletins, due to insufficient data, for the past several months.
How many stations of Haryana are on the chart of the CPCB?
There are 25 stations of Haryana on the CPCB chart for daily monitoring. As per the bulletin released on July 21, of the total 25 stations, only the data of Panchgaon, which was found to be in good category, was reflected. The data of remaining 24, including Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Ballabgarh, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Dharuhera, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurugram, Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, and Yamunanagar, continue to be missing due to insufficient data. Of the 84 stations missing from the AQI bulletin on Monday, 24 were from Haryana only.
What is the reason behind the insufficient data?
The tender of the agency responsible for maintaining and operating the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) had expired in February last year. However, the agency kept working, but after the payments of the agency got stuck, it stopped working. The delay in floating the tender, led to the situation where the data is not being delivered. The data of some of the cities is not available since December last year.
Why is the data important?
The daily monitoring of data helps the Central Pollution Control Board in assessing pollution levels, identifying the areas of concern, preparing policies and issuing guidelines for improving the air quality. The trends of the air quality also help the board in doing comparison with the data of previous years and implementing the pollution control measures. An official in the Haryana State Pollution Control Board says with no data for the cities since December last year and January, the board will face issues in comparing the data of previous years.
How is the air quality adjudged in different ranges?
The AQI in the range of 0-50 is considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 101-200 Moderate, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe. The severe air quality seriously impacts those with existing diseases and respiratory illness, besides affecting healthy people too.
What do the environmentalists say?
Dr Naresh Bhardwaj, executive member of NGO Green Earth, terms the delay in tendering process as a big lapse. The daily live monitoring is important as it helps in taking appropriate measures in improving the air quality especially, during the paddy harvesting season, when the air quality registers a dip due to farm fires, climatic conditions and other construction and ground activities. The NGO will take up the matter with the state government and the National Green Tribunal. The daily live monitoring must be ensured and the data should be available in the public domain.
What does the HSPCB claim?
The Haryana State Pollution Control Board officials admitted that due to the delay in the tendering process, the agency had stopped working and the live data was not being shared due to which it was not reflecting in the daily bulletin. The officials claimed that the tenders were already floated and the fresh tenders would be allotted soon.
Haryana Tribune