Eyes in the sky to track Bengaluru emissions

Eyes in the sky to track B'luru emissions

A new study aims to bridge major gaps in Bengaluru's air quality monitoring by using drones to map emission hotspots with a focus on the dangerous PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles.

The government's Environment Management and Policy Research Institute (EMPRI) has joined hands with the National Institute of Advanced Studies for the project conceived as part of a series of studies aimed at arriving at a holistic picture of air pollution in Bengaluru Urban district.

At present, air quality is measured at nine monitoring centres in the city, including two set up by the Central Pollution Control Board.

Of the seven stations of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), two do not monitor PM 2.5, the fine particles that cause 15 lakh premature deaths every year.

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"Mapping hotspots is a crucial step in generating scientific data on air quality," EMPRI Director General Jagmohan Sharma told DH. "We have a general understanding on issues like higher pollution levels caused by congestion or industrial emissions. Precise understanding of places with high concentration of PM 2.5 as well as the source of the pollutants will go a long way in designing policy instruments and mitigation measures."

The drones will map areas that are currently not covered by the monitoring stations and experts at NIAS have begun identifying the places to be mapped for the survey.

"We will go beyond traffic congestion to include industries, construction activities, quarries and establishments that contribute to pollution through use of diesel generators," R Srikanth, Professor and Dean, School of Natural Sciences & Engineering, NIAS. "At preliminary stage, we have identified 32 places for the drone survey. The survey will also account of variabilities in a particular hotspot like the change in emissions during weekends, peak hours etc."

Tejaswini M E, EMPRI's Climate Change fellow and project's nodal officer, said the drones will also capture thermal imagery which will help identify concentration of polluting gases.

"Moreover, ground-level monitoring of pollutants will be undertaken at the hotspot to ensure the data is reliable," she added.

Mahesh Kashyap, an independent consultant working on air pollution and climate change issues, said the state government needs to increase the monitoring stations.

"Periodic surveys won't suffice for a crowded city like Bengaluru. The government should set up at least one monitoring station (CAAQMS) for an area with a population of 5 lakh. This will give us a realistic picture of the air quality," he said.