While prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over rising pollution and climate change at the Paris summit recently, his own governments in states are not serious about dealing with pollution.
In past one year, the officials of Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) have not been able to detect and publish reports about dangerous PM 2.5 and PM 10 levels in Gurgaon on a daily basis.
The officials are not bothering to detect these two parameters simultaneously. If they would PM 2.5 level on a particular day, they do not check PM 10 particles in the air on the same day. HSPCB has also not been following the criteria of AQI regularly.
Mail Today accessed the data of city air quality which suggested that HSPCB had not taken PM 2.5 levels in February, April and June and PM 10 level in January, March and May this year. Sources said the pollution control board has not monitored air quality in the first 25 days of November this year.
Meanwhile, regional officer of HSPCB Bhupindar Singh said: "We have been monitoring air quality, including PM 2.5 level and PM 10, but not updating it to computer every day."
The PM 2.5 and PM 10 level particles can penetrate into the lungs directly through the nose and are responsible for causing asthmatic, respiratory and skin-related allergies. The HSPCB has just one
air pollution monitoring device installed at Vikas Sadan in Civil Lines area of Gurgaon and as it has limited reach, there is no accurate data for other parts of the city.
The average pollution level in Gurgaon has jumped twice in the last three years while some pockets like Iffco Chowk, Rajeev Chowk, MG Road, Cyber City and Udyog Vihar have registered 13 times higher air pollution due to large number of vehicles and factories.
