Missing Air Quality Data Creates Uncertainty Over Pollution Levels in Pune

Pune, 30th December 30, 2024: Information from the Air Quality Index (AQI) monitoring system installed across various parts of the Pune city is currently unavailable. This was brought to light by Vivek Velankar, President of the Sajag Nagrik Manch.

Velankar has urged the Pune Municipal Commissioner to publish the daily AQI data, which is currently missing from the system, on the Municipal Corporation’s website.

The air quality monitoring system, which was installed at 45 locations throughout Pune by the Municipal Corporation administration and Pune Smart City, is part of the city’s efforts to combat air pollution. Pune is among the cities with the highest levels of air pollution in India, and the Municipal Corporation has been implementing several measures to address this issue, with significant funds being allocated towards these efforts. It is critical that citizens are kept informed about the daily air quality status to help them understand the pollution levels and contribute towards pollution control. As part of these initiatives, Smart City had installed the AQI monitoring system at various locations, including two devices near buildings within one kilometer of Vaikunth Crematorium.

In this regard, Velankar stated, “All the Smart City systems have now been transferred to the Pune Municipal Corporation. The Disaster Management Department of the municipality is handling the related tasks. We wrote to the department to obtain daily air quality data, but they informed us that they only have information available up until June 2024. The data from the system, which was installed with citizens’ tax money, is not being updated. This critical information is disappearing. We have demanded that the missing data be made available and published daily on the Municipal Corporation’s website.”