UP gets first automatic air monitoring system

BAREILLY: Central Pollution Control Board will in April install an automatic air monitoring system in Bareilly that will measure pollution levels in Badaun, Pilibhit, Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, Haldwani, Ranikhet, Nainital and Pithoragarh. This is the first time that such a facility is being installed in Uttar Pradesh.

Apart from Bareilly, Chennai, Bihar, Varanasi, Jammu and Kashmir will also be serviced by the system which would measure oxides of nitrogen and sulphur, Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) and ozone. "This system is different from other stations of the pollution control board as it has a data logger which would send the data of surrounding districts daily at regular intervals," said Dinesh Kumar Saxena, project head, Bareilly College. The system will record the data related to gases every four hours while SPM and RSPM will be measured every eight hours. Saxena added it will help in detecting the trend of pollution in Bareilly and surrounding districts where pollution levels have increased drastically over the years.