SAFAR dismisses MPCB’s allegations about inaccurate readings

Days after the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board MPCB alleged that the air quality recorded at air quality monitoring station manned by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research SAFAR is inaccuratemdashespecially the one at Chakala in Andheri which recorded high AQI levels last weekmdashthe latter has dismissed MPCBrsquos allegations as unfounded and baselessIn an email to midday SAFAR acknowledged the presence of multiple emission sources near the Chakala station which have contributed to elevated AQI readings there but it said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC had failed to mitigate these emissionsChakala readingsThe AQI value recorded by the Chakala monitoring station was alarmingly high on October 19 and October 20 The MPCB alleged that the stationrsquos location is ldquoproblematicrdquo The continuous ambient air quality monitoring station CAAQMS at Chakala was set up and is run by SAFAR a national initiative under the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology IITMWhile all other stations set and manned by IITMSAFAR and MPCB have been recording AQI readings in the range of moderatepoor to very poor category the station at Chakala on October 20 recorded AQI in the severe category above 400 On October 20 the Central Pollution Control Boards CPCB SAMEER app displayed an AQI value of 423 for the IITMSAFARrun station whereas SAFARs own app reported a higher value of 560 for the same stationMPCB SpeakV M Motghare MPCBs joint director Air Pollution Control told midday that Chakala station was not operating properly and it had not been opened for the past year ldquoAlso a huge marblecutting factory is located next to it Itrsquos not our stationrdquo he said Sharing the pollution control bodys preliminary observation from a visit to the Chakala station Motghare statedldquoThe CAAQMS is located on a soil playground where natural dusting occurs At its rear a marble cutting is carried out at approximately 10 metres Since the past one year no one has opened the CAAQMS for operations and maintenance Thus no calibration must have been carried out by CAAQMSrdquo According to MPCB officials only a wall separates the marblecutting unit from the monitoring station and dust emissions from the unit and a neighbouring playground inevitably cause elevated AQI valuesSAFARrsquos reactionSAFARIITM in an email reply to midday stated ldquoThis is not correct The CAAQMS is under maintenance and regularly calibrated It is true that there are many sources emitting dust near the Andheri station resulting in comparatively high values Anthropogenic activities have increased over the years and it is for the BMC to prevent such activity near the stationrdquo About the higher AQI value at the Chakala station a SAFAR official said ldquoThere could be some transient technical problem with the instrument that at times occurs with any electronic equipmentrdquoThe MPCB had previously raised concerns about the accuracy of AQI readings at its air monitoring stations and their locations In January the authority initiated a request to relocate the nine monitoring stations administered by SAFAR The basis for this request was that these stations were deemed inadequate in accurately reflecting Mumbairsquos ambient air qualityPivotal meetA pivotal meeting between MPCB and BMC was held on January 12 during which the MPCB formally presented their proposal to relocate SAFARrsquos monitoring stations In addition officials claimed that SAFARrsquos CAAQMS installations are placed in areas known for higher trafficrelated emissions in comparison to other locations They stated that this configuration fell short of providing a precise portrayal of the overall air quality situationTo this SAFAR replied ldquoSAFAR has been providing AQI in Delhi Pune and Ahmedabad and no allegations have been made so far The MPCBrsquos statement is not based on a thorough analysis of data from all the stations for comparison It is only a subjective opinionrdquo To crossexamine SAFARs AQI readings MPCB stationed a continuous ambient air quality monitoring van at Govandi on Wednesday