PCB eye in the sky to keep tabs on polluting industrial units

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) on Friday kicked off its environmental drone surveillance against polluting industries.
The polluting industrial units often switch off effluent treatment plants (ETP) and emission control devices (ECD) to save energy costs and dump the untreated effluents in canals and drains, which eventually flow into the rivers to pollute them badly.The drones fitted with high-resolution night vision cameras and air quality sensors can detect the pollution level with irrefutable evidence for further action.

Environmental drones (e-drones) are programmed autonomous drones used for pollution monitoring, detection, and abatement at altitudes above ground level in a specific geographic region. E-drones produce Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) maps of covered areas for environmental data monitoring and long-term analysis. E-drones are the first aerial systems designed to fight pollution following successful detection.
As the drone had an experimental flight on Friday at Howrah Police line, WBPCB chairman Kalyan Rudra and member secretary Rajesh Kumar watched the live-streaming at the Command and Control Centre (CCC) at the headquarters.
“There will be 10 drones deployed across six non-attainment cities. We have seen that polluting industrial units tend to switch off the ETPs and ECDs, particularly during the night, to save costs, causing irreversible damage to the environment. We are focussing more on night surveillance to catch the polluters red-handed,” said Kalyan Rudra.
“Moreover, we have asked the agency engaged in surveillance to add land use patterns to detect whether the housing societies are following the norm of keeping mandatory 20% green space. From our experience, we have seen there is rampant violation of this norm by real-estate developers,” he added.
“The drones can measure PM2.5, NOx and SO2 levels in the air. They can revolve around the top of the stacks of polluting industries and measure the ambient air in the impact zone of the polluting industrial units. Besides, one drone stationed at PCB headquarters will carry out an aerial survey during Diwali against use of illegal fireworks,” said an officer.
Since PCB has all the polluting industrial units mapped, the drones just need instruction with the latitude-longitude coordinates for surveillance. When multiple e-drones are used in different locations, custom software generates an AQHI map of the region that can be used for present and long-term environmental analysis.