Air quality monitoring van to be deployed in Punjab

Chandigarh, Aug 25 (IANS) In a first-of-its-kind initiative, an air quality monitoring van will be deployed in Punjab to monitor air pollution levels and to create awareness to understand the type of air they are breathing.

Announcing it on the sidelines of India Clean Air Summit (ICAS) 2023 in Bengaluru, Adarsh Pal Vig, Chairman, Punjab State Pollution Control Board (PSPCB), said it was important for people to understand the air they were breathing.

The van will be operated by a local industry under the corporate environment responsibility (CER) under the direction of the PPCB.

The journey of the air quality monitoring van will start from Khadoor Sahib in Tarn Taran district near Amritsar that already has a forested patch created by Baba Sewa Singh, a social worker and environmentalist.

The air quality of this place will be recorded and then the van will move to other cities across the state, comparing the air quality levels of different locations, and explaining to residents the air they are breathing.

The aim is to identify steps that can be taken to improve the quality of air locally.

“The van will also be used during the stubble burning season at sites where there is deteriorating air quality due to burning compared to those areas that are free from it. It will measure the air quality and explain to people the polluted air they are breathing,” Vig added.

By sharing the data captured by the van, people will be empowered to improve the air they breathe due to their own actions -- an initiative towards citizen science.

“Clean air is a win-win for health and climate but needs to be done with evidence-based strategies and research with local knowledge,” said Vinayak Sinha, Professor, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Mohali during ICAS 2023.