Denizens will soon be able to check pollution levels in the city through a digital display board as Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has decided to put into operation a real time Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station that was already installed on the premises of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation guesthouse on Bandar Road.
People can track the parameters, concentration and standard limit on the display board on hourly basis. The Central Pollution Control Board is assisting APPCB in establishing the station to test the air quality and from it generate real time data.
This will help APPCB to analyse the levels of various harmful gases, including carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, benzene, toluene and xylene.
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The origin of harmful gases can also be established with this advanced mechanism, APPCB officials say. If levels increases beyond permissible limits, then the APPCB will advice the district administration and other departments concerned to take up remedial measures on priority basis, they say.
Meteorological parameters like wind speed and direction, temperature, relative humidity and solar radiation are also subjects of study at the station, according to officials.
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“Minutes after the pollution levels are recorded, it will directly be displayed on the digital board,” an APPCB official explains.
At present, the APPCB is monitoring air quality at three locations Benz Circle, Police control Room (PCR) and Autonagar Industrial area. It is only recording three parameters - particulate matter up to the size of 10 microns, sulphur dioxide and oxides of nitrogen.
But the CAAQMS is an advanced system that assesses the pollution, he says.
In the pipelineApart from Vijayawada, the CPCB is setting up two such facilities at Hyderabad, two in Visakhapatnam and one in Tirupati.