A recent assessment has highlighted a serious gap in Haryana’s air-pollution tracking system, raising concerns that districts such as Bhiwani and other growing towns are not being monitored adequately. This shortfall makes it harder for authorities to measure pollution levels accurately, identify sources, and take timely action.
1) Major shortage of monitoring stations
- Experts say Haryana needs around 45 continuous air-quality monitoring stations across its NCR areas for effective coverage.
- However, expansion plans currently include only about seven new stations, leaving a significant gap in the network.
- Monitoring density is supposed to match population size, industrial activity, and urban spread, but the present system does not fully meet those standards.
This shortage means many districts — including smaller cities like Bhiwani — may not have enough local sensors to track real pollution conditions.
2) Weak and unreliable monitoring network
- In recent years, the state’s monitoring system has faced technical and administrative problems.
- At one point, 29 of the state’s stations went offline for months, leaving authorities without reliable real-time pollution data.
- Earlier reports also showed only 30 out of 72 total monitoring stations were functional, highlighting operational gaps.
- In another instance, 20 of 32 stations stopped working during smog season, affecting pollution tracking accuracy.
Such disruptions mean air quality may appear better or worse than reality because readings come from too few sources.
3) Why more stations are needed
Air-quality stations measure pollutants like PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, and ozone. Without enough of them:
- Pollution in smaller towns may go undetected.
- Local sources (mining, traffic, industries) cannot be tracked precisely.
- Policy decisions rely on incomplete or outdated data.
Authorities recommend a grid-based monitoring system — installing stations per fixed area size (for example, one per 25–50 sq km in dense regions) — to capture accurate local variations.
4) Impact on districts like Bhiwani
- Several monitoring stations are concentrated in big NCR cities such as Gurugram and Faridabad.
- Smaller and semi-urban districts, including Bhiwani, have limited coverage despite growing industrial activity and dust pollution.
- This creates “blind spots” where pollution may be high but not properly recorded or addressed.
5) Government plans and expansion
- Authorities have proposed adding more stations and improving coverage under clean-air projects.
- Once new stations are installed across NCR states, the wider region is expected to have over 150 stations, with about 45 in Haryana eventually.
- Investments and new technologies (manual grids, mobile monitoring units) are also being considered to strengthen the network.
6) Why this issue matters
A weak monitoring system affects public health planning because:
- Pollution alerts may be delayed or inaccurate.
- Schools, hospitals, and local authorities may not get proper warnings.
- Long-term solutions become harder without clear data on pollution sources.