More ambient air quality monitoring stations and water quality monitoring stations will be set up in the high risk areas of the State to check the spread of diseases through air and water.
To be set up by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board (PCB), the new air quality monitoring stations will come up in Kozhikode and Vytilla Hub in Ernakulam. The new stations are in addition to the monitoring stations functioning at Plamoodu in Thiruvananthapuran and Kanjikode in Palakkad.
In addition to the existing water quality monitoring station at Periyar that has cameras, another one is to be set up at Periyar. A water quality monitoring station will be set up in the Parvathy Puthanar in Thiruvananthapuram this year. Efforts are on to revive the canal and make it navigable for cargo movement as part of the National Waterway.
The monitoring station with display at Vytilla Hub would become functional in two weeks, official sources said. Live streaming of the data would be available to the public in the display board. In Kozhikode, the monitoring station of the PCB will be set up in the city Corporation limits. The public will also get an opportunity to see the air quality at these stations.
PCB chairman K. Sajeevan said the air and water pollution could be controlled and spread of diseases could be checked. Pollution takes place mainly through the industries, automobiles, and construction sector. The number of motor vehicles registered in the State had already crossed the one-crore mark. The PCB already has a mechanism to alert if the level of pollution goes up and to control it.
SMS alert is given to them to take immediate section and those who fail to comply will have to face action. In the industrial units, the PCB has also set up monitoring system to keep a watch on water treatment plants.
The air quality monitors will screen for respirable suspended particulates of 2.5 micron size (PM 2.5) and of 10 micron size (PM 10), sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen and Hydrocarbons mainly.
