Clean Air Catalyst Starts Air Quality Monitoring for Source Apportionment Study in Indore
By Sudhir Gore, Posted January 10, 2023
December 22, 2022
INDORE - Clean Air Catalyst (the Catalyst) has started air quality monitoring at five locations in Indore for the source apportionment study. Source apportionment is the practice of deriving information about pollution sources and the amount they contribute to outdoor air pollution levels. This process is vital for informing cost-effective pollution control strategies.
The Clean Air Catalyst is a flagship program launched by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and a global partnership of organizations led by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
Dr. Nivedita Barman, a post-doctoral researcher, supporting the Catalyst said, “the current source apportionment study will strengthen the objectives and outputs of the Catalyst project as well as city priorities for developing clean air strategies.” The outcome of the study will help build a shared understanding in Indore of the impacts of air pollution exposure, sources, their root causes, and how citizens’ actions can help to reduce the air pollution in their localities, Barman added.
On December 20, 2022, a team of Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) officials led by additional commissioner Siddharth Jain and superintendent engineer Mahesh Sharma visited the air quality monitoring sites at Musakhedi and Bicholi Hapsi.
Dr. Harsha Kota, IIT Delhi, who is advising the Catalyst science team, explained the process of source apportionment study to the IMC team members. The Catalyst team is also supported by Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) students in the source apportionment study.
Dr. Kota said that the air quality monitoring will be carried out for two critical seasons (summer and winter) in a year to get representative samples for assessing the seasonal variations. The duration of the study will be 18 months.
IMC has asked the Catalyst to conduct the source apportionment study as part of the global partnership’s project to support the city’s air pollution mitigation measures. This exercise will help build a better understanding of air pollution sources in Indore city. The study will be conducted according to the mandate and guidelines of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) for a million-plus city.
The Catalyst team members, Dr. Dilip Wagela, Megha Namdeo, Saurabh Porwal, Dr. Shailendra Yadav and Sanjar Ali, were also present during the air pollution monitoring site visit.
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