Six more AQI monitoring stations in city

New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Monday inaugurated six new Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), taking the total number to 46. A further 14 monitoring stations are planned to be installed in the coming period.Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, "Six new CAAQMS have been installed and they are being calibrated. These stations will start sharing readings in a week." During the event, the ‘Vayu Rakshak' initiative was launched with the deployment of 100 dedicated Vayu Rakshaks to work in coordination with the DPCC for on-ground pollution control. In addition, 600 Vayu Rakshaks, in coordination with Delhi Police, are monitoring violations related to traffic and emissions. Sirsa said the deployment of 100 Vayu Rakshaks will ensure that pollution control measures are implemented effectively at the ground level. The six new monitoring stations were inaugurated online at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indira Gandhi National Open University, SPMSPC Talkatora Garden, Commonwealth Sports Complex, Delhi Cantonment and NSUT (West campus). With these, the total number of CAAQMS in Delhi increased to 46, making it the largest air quality monitoring network in any city in the country. Of these, 30 stations are operated by Delhi Pollution Control Committee, 10 by India Meteorological Department/IITM, and six by Central Pollution Control Board. TNN