For all its claims of trying to curb pollution on urgent basis, the BMC has not installed air monitoring units since their purchase nearly two years back. The BMC brought five units worth over Rs 10 crore under the Central government’s Clean Air scheme in 2021. It has not installed even one unit though five sites had been selected for each. Now the civic body says the units will not be ready before June.

For the past few months, the air monitoring units under SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research) have been reflecting higher pollution levels in the city. Generally, the air quality worsens in the winter due to low wind speed, but even after the increase in temperature, the pollution levels have not reduced.