Gurgaon: Haryana has started the process of installing 12 new air monitoring stations to improve pollution surveillance in districts with limited monitoring coverage. The state pollution control board has issued bid documents for the supply, installation, commissioning and five-year operation and maintenance of the stations, out of which five will be installed in Charkhi Dadri and Mahendergarh each, one in Rewari and another in Jhajjar.Haryana currently has 32 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), of which HSPCB operates 29. The additional stations are expected to improve spatial coverage and generate more localised pollution data.CAAQMS provide round-the-clock measurements of key pollutants, including PM2.5, PM10, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and carbon monoxide, besides recording meteorological parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and wind direction. The data generated by these stations are used for calculating the AQI, identifying pollution hotspots and assessing compliance with environmental norms.Environmental experts have long pointed to gaps in Haryana’s monitoring network, particularly outside major urban centres. Several districts have limited real-time air quality data despite concerns over mining activity, industrial emissions, vehicular pollution, road dust and agricultural residue burning.The addition of 12 new stations is expected to significantly improve pollution surveillance and provide a more representative picture of local air quality conditions.Officials said a denser monitoring network would enable authorities to identify pollution hotspots more accurately, assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures and undertake targeted interventions instead of relying on district-wide averages.The selected agencies will be responsible not only for installation and commissioning but also for operation and maintenance of the stations for five years to ensure uninterrupted data generation and minimise downtime.With the latest expansion, Haryana is expected to further strengthen its real-time air quality monitoring infrastructure as regulators increasingly focus on data-driven pollution management and source-specific interventions.HSPCB member secretary Yogesh Kumar said the state has also been tasked with installing 23 monitoring stations across NCR districts by the end of Aug. “Five are being funded by GMDA, three by FMDA, 10 by HSPCB and three under the World Bank-supported Arjun project,” he said. Officials said the two stations proposed in Rewari and Jhajjar are part of this NCR expansion programme. The three stations are being established under the Arjun project, which is the clean air project funded by the World Bank. They will come up in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonipat. These stations are expected to provide more advanced monitoring capabilities by helping authorities understand not only pollutant concentrations but also factors contributing to pollution episodes. “The Arjun project stations will provide additional information on pollution sources and reasons behind pollution levels, which will help in better planning and mitigation measures,” Kumar said.
