Bihar State Pollution Control Board Signs MoA with IIT, Delhi for Air Quality Management

Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) has signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi to set up a Geographical Information System (GIS) based platform for air quality management in Bihar.

About the Project:

i.Dr Sagnik Dey, Associate Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Science, IIT Delhi will be leading the project along with S N Jayaswal, Board Analyst, Bihar State Pollution Control Board, Patna.

ii.The Agreement which comes at a cost of Rs. 10 Lakh will provide for exchange of technical expertise between IIT Delhi & BSPCB.

iii.MoA has been signed on the backdrop of Government of India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).

Key Points:

• The project will help in identifying the local hot spot of particulate matter PM 2.5 in non-attainment cities in Bihar namely Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur.
• The mapping will be done at a very high-resolution of One Square Kilometer using satellite and ground based measurement systems.
• Using Satellite data, districts and villages where open burning is prevalent are identified and their role in polluting the air in non-attainment cities will be examined using Wind Trajectory Analysis.
• Weekly pollution build-up will be examined to identify critical pollution periods.
• The GIS technology will also help in enabling ambient air monitoring stations in the state to locate sources of air pollutants.
• Two scientists from Bihar State Pollution Control Board will be trained in IIT Delhi in the use of Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model to study satellite and other data for air quality monitoring and management.
• The Duration of the project is one year.

What is PM2.5?

A pollutant measuring up to 2.5 microns in size, widely regarded as most harmful to human health. The microscopic size allows the particles to enter the bloodstream via the respiratory system, causing far-reaching health effects, including asthma, lung cancer and heart disease.

Non-Attainment Cities:

• Cities which show consistent poor air quality than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards are considered as Non-Attainment cities.
• Some of the Cities included under this list are Delhi, Varanasi, Bhopal, Kolkata, Noida, Muzaffarpur and Mumbai.

National Clean Air Programme: 

• NCAP was launched in January 2019 by the then Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Dr. Harsh Vardhan.
• The intention of NCAP is to cut the concentration of coarse (particulate matter PM 10) and fine particles (PM 2.5) by 20% in the next five years.

Recent Related news: 

i.IQAir Air Visual in its AirVisual Report ranked India as the 5th most polluted country in the world, with the Indian city Ghaziabad rated as the most polluted city in the world.

ii.Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi appointed brand ambassador of Patna’s Khadi Mall by Bihar Government.

About Bihar

Capital – Patna
Chief Minister – Nitish Kumar
Governor – Phagu Chauhan

About Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC): 

Union Minister – Prakash Keshav Javadekar.
Minister of State (MoS) – Babul Supriyo.