Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board gets mobile air quality monitoring unit

The Times of India , Wednesday, March 02, 2016
Correspondent : KarthikeyanHemalatha
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has purchased a mobile air pollution monitoring unit which it will use to come up with an action plan to reduce pollution in Chennai. Chief minister J Jayalalithaa inaugurated the unit on Tuesday.

The mobile unit, costing Rs 1.25 crore, will be installed in a car. The car will be parked in different parts of the city for three to five days at a stretch before moving to another location.

"The unit will help us identify sources of pollutions and formulate an action plan," said a TNPCB official.

The unit will be able to monitor the concentration of sulphur oxide, nitrous oxide, ammonia, ozone, carbon mono-oxide, benzene as well as PM 10 and PM 2.5.

"We will get updates in our office every five minutes. It will be especially useful during days like Diwali and Pongal," said the official.

The chief minister also launched a system where citizens can make online complaints on the pollution as well as hazardous waste being dumped without being treated.

A recent study by the Union ministry of health and family welfare revealed that even though Chennai has a lower PM2.5 concentration compared to other cities, 63% of it comes from automobile exhausts.

"Exposure to vehicle pollution is high even if its contribution to ambient air pollution is still being debated," said AnumitaRoychowdhury of the Centre for Science and Environment, part of the team which carried out the study in an earlier interaction with TOI.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends 10 micrograms of PM2.5 in ambient air. But in Chennai, it ranges between 40 to 60 micrograms.

These particles enter the respiratory tract and reach the lungs. This leads to ailments like bronchitis and shortness of breath.

Other studies have shown that in most Indian cities, around 60% of residents live along roads. Chennai too is a densely developed city where the vehicular count per square kilometre is more than 9,500.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Tamil-Nadu-Pollution-Control-Board-gets-mobile-air-quality-monitoring-unit/articleshow/51212509.cms
 


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