30 air monitoring devices installed

One of the many air quality monitoring devices the civic body has installed across the city.

The civic body has completed installation of air quality monitoring devices across the city - the first project reaching finality under the Smart Cities mission.

According to sources, the civic body has installed 30 devices for monitoring suspended particulate matter, carbon monoxide, humidity, temperature and also the noise pollution level.

The solar-powered devices will not just monitor the parameters, but also transmit the same to the Corporation. The Corporation will make the data available online.

“The devices are ready, the work to provide data connectivity to the devices are on. In all probability, by Monday, they should start the transmission. And in a couple of days, the data will be available online,” Corporation Commissioner K. Vijayakarthikeyan says.

To install the devices, the Corporation through the Coimbatore Smart City Limited, the special purpose vehicle, spent ₹10 lakh. The Corporation installed the first device on a trial basis on Big Tank bund in Ukkadam and after finding it to be satisfactory, extended to 29 locations across the city.

The areas it has installed include Puliakulam, Ukkadam bus stand, Gandhipuram Town Bus Stand, Selvapuram, Amma Canteen, Podanur, South Zone office, Edayarpalayam, Ramanathapuram, Sungam, and Flower Market.

But mere data generation will be of no good to the people, says K. Kathirmathiyon, Secretary, Coimbatore Consumer Cause.

The data generation has to have a purpose and that will happen if the Corporation shares it with either the traffic police, Transport Department or the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board.

For, based on the data, the scope for remedial action by the Corporation is limited.

Mr. Vijayakarthikeyan says the data generated will be linked to the Corporation’s Command and Control Centre and used in projects driven by big data. He adds that though at present, the project is just to share the data, in future, it may help in creating more green spaces in the city.

But if the Corporation really wants to study pollution and create lung spaces, it should have installed the devices in residential areas close to the Vellalore dump yard, for that is where the residents suffer the most, says activist J. Daniel, adding that the current exercise has very little meaning.