MMRDA plans three stations to keep tab on air quality

“The locations of the first two stations are more or less finalised,but are yet to be approved on paper,” an MMRDA official,who did not wish to be named,said adding that the monitoring station requires an area of about 200 square feet.

The monitoring station at IIT will help the MMRDA examine changes in the air quality due to the construction of Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road,while the Amar Mahal monitoring station will enable the agency to keep a tab on air quality changes due to the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road. These roads are being constructed as part of the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP).

“For the third station,we are trying hard for space at Nariman Point near the CR2 mall,but if that doesn’t work out,we will look at setting it up in Borivali,” the official said.

The project will cost Rs 1.5 crore,20 per cent of which would be borne by the Maharastra Pollution Control Board,he added. “We record air quality data manually before and during the construction of these road projects,so we can compare it with the one we collect through these stations,” the official said.

The MMRDA had decided to set up these monitoring stations nearly three years ago after the suggestion of the World Bank during the implementation of the MUTP. However,finding and finalising the sites for these stations was a tedious task,the official said.