Chennai: To monitor air quality in real time without spending crores on expensive equipment, the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has decided to install 80 digital low-cost monitors to track the air quality index (AQI) across the state by the end of this year. The bulk of these monitors will be installed in cities.
The environment department has allocated ₹8 crore towards this initiative. As of 2024, Tamil Nadu had 34 CAAQMs. However, real-time data on the website is only from 11 of them. Environmentalists welcome the move to increase the number of stations, but say accuracy shouldn’t be compromised, especially in cities such as Chennai — which ranked 35 out of 48 cities in the clean air survey report released by the Union ministry for environment on Monday.
Though the accuracy will be slightly lesser, it is cheaper and therefore more can be procured and installed at several locations.
Naturally, AQI will be representative of more locations from the city and we can get a near-accurate depiction of the pollution level,” a senior official with TNPCB said. TNPCB chairperson Anurag Mishra said the data provided by the sensors will be relayed live on the website. These monitors will be different from the continuous ambient air quality monitoring (CAAQM) system that use high-end equipment and are more accurate. “The locations haven’t been decided yet. Eight of these are in Chennai, including those installed by the Central Pollution Control Board. You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Chennai | Silver Rate in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai | Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Petrol Price in Chennai | Diesel Price in Chennai | CNG Price in Chennai | LPG Price in Chennai