Mumbai: MPCB's battle for accurate air quality data in city intensifies

Amidst concerns over deteriorating air quality and rising worries about dust and pollutants the Air Quality Index AQI recorded at the AndheriChakala air quality monitoring station in Mumbai has been consistently alarmingly high in recent days causing widespread concern The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB has challenged the accuracy of these readings and pointed to issues with the stationrsquos locationThe continuous ambient air quality monitoring station CAAQMS at AndheriChakala is established and managed by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research SAFAR a national initiative under the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology IITM Ministry of Earth Sciences MoES Government of IndiaWhile all other stations under the purview of IITMSAFAR and MPCB have been reporting AQI readings within the moderate to very poor range the AndheriChakala station has consistently reported AQI values in the severe category above 400 AQI for the past few daysScreengrab of the SAFAR and Sameer app showing the AQI levelsOn Friday the Central Pollution Control Boards CPCB SAMEER app displayed an AQI value of 423 for the IITMrun AndheriChakala station while SAFARs app reported a higher value of 560 for the same stationRegarding these discrepancies officials from IITMSAFAR did not respond to text and email inquiries V M Motghare MPCBs joint director of Air Pollution Control stated The AndheriChakala station is not functioning properly and has remained closed for the past year Additionally there is a large marblecutting factory located adjacent to it It is not our stationMotghare shared the preliminary findings of the pollution control bodys visit to the AndheriChakala station saying The CAAQMS is situated on a soil playground where natural dusting occurs Just behind the CAAQMS a large marblecutting operation is conducted at a distance of approximately 10 metres The CAAQMS has not been opened for operations and maintenance OampM in the last year and as a result no calibration has been carried outMPCB officials pointed out that the marblecutting unit is in close proximity to SAFARs Andheri AQI monitoring station separated only by a wall The dust generated by both the unit and the adjacent playground where the station is located inevitably contributes to elevated AQI values as emphasized by MPCB officialsFurthermore officials have noted that SAFARs CAAQMS installations are strategically placed in areas with higher trafficrelated emissions compared to other locations In the case of the Andheri station pollution from both the playground dust and the nearby marblecutting unit significantly contributes to air pollution rendering this setup unsuitable for providing an accurate representation of overall air qualityThis isnt the first instance where MPCB has questioned the accuracy of AQI readings at its air monitoring stations and their locations In January of this year the states principal pollution control and regulatory authority initiated a request to relocate the nine monitoring stations administered by SAFAR The rationale behind this move was the belief that these stations did not accurately reflect the ambient air quality of MumbaiA meeting was held between MPCB and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC on January 12 during which MPCB formally presented their request to relocate SAFARs monitoring stations SAFARs monitoring stations are currently located in BKC Chembur Worli Colaba Bhandup Andheri Borivli Malad Mazgaon and Navi MumbaiAdditionally officials highlighted that SAFARs CAAQMS installations are positioned in areas characterised by higher trafficrelated emissions compared to other locations Consequently this configuration does not provide an accurate representation of overall air quality In the case of the Andheri station pollution from both the playground dust and the nearby marblecutting unit significantly contributes to air pollutionThis suggestion by MPCB in January not only strained the relationship between the pollution control body and IITM officials but also sparked a debate among various stakeholdersApart from the nine SAFAR monitors MPCB operates at least 11 CAAQMS in Mumbai These stations generally report lower pollution levels in terms of AQI compared to SAFARs monitoring stationsCountering MPCBrsquos allegations and defending SAFAR senior scientist and former project director of SAFAR Dr Gufran Beig said ldquoThe CAAQMS has been set up and run by SAFAR since 2015 All nine stations have been established following international guidelines framed by the World Meteorological Organization WMO WMO has issued clear and detailed guidelines for setting up CAAQMS including the number of stations needed in proportion to the cityrsquos or arearsquos population and their optimal locationsrdquoBeig added ldquoThere have been no problems or complaints about these stations from 2015 to 2021 The problem suddenly began after 2021 when the AQI in the city started deteriorating The stations should be placed in areas that accurately represent the city and are clean and green If the current locations of the SAFAR stations do not accurately represent Mumbairsquos ambient air quality will relocating them to gardens and cleaner places provide more accurate readingsrdquoAccording to sources at IITM none of the SAFAR stations are closed or out of operation and they continue to provide accurate readings 560AQI value on Friday reported by SAFARrsquos app400AQI value after which air is reported in the severe category