By the time the FIFA Under-17 World Cup kicks off on Friday, an air quality monitoring station set up by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) at one of the venues, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, will start collecting pollution data.
As part of the DPCC’s project to set up 20 new ambient air quality monitoring stations, the station at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium began trials this week, said a senior Environment Department official.
The calibration of the machines will be checked and the station will be fully functional in time for the first match of the tournament in Delhi, the official added.
The station will measure levels of toxic gases as well as harmful particulate matter. The data will be available online on the DPCC website.
Diwali deadline
The DPCC’s new monitoring station at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium also began trials and is expected to start full operation soon, the official added.
While the stadium will not be used for the FIFA tournament, practice grounds for the participating teams have been designated at Delhi University and Civil Lines, apart from one at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The DPCC will be setting up a station near the practice grounds as well, said the official.
The government’s plan to start the new monitoring stations before the end of October is on track, the official said, adding that most of the new stations will be functional before Diwali on October 19. On September 26, Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain had directed the department to make sure the stations are up and running by Diwali.
With the addition of the 20 new facilities, Delhi will have a total of 40 air quality monitoring stations.
The DPCC already has six stations, while other stations belong to the Central Pollution Control Board and the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences. It is the highest number of such stations in one city in the country.
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