Bihar Pollution Control Board signs MoA with IIT, Delhi for air quality management

The Bihar State Pollution Control Board has signed a 'Memorandum of Agreement' (MoA) with IIT, Delhi for setting up of geographical information system (GIS) based platform for air quality management in the state.

The agreement, which was signed on Saturday, will help in identifying sources and transport of PM 2.5 at a "very high resolution" and help the board to identify "effective mitigation measures", a Bihar State Pollution Control Board release said.

This particular project will help to identify local hot spot of particulate matter PM 2.5 in the non-attainment cities in Bihar namely Patna, Gaya and Muzaffarpur, it said.

IIT, Delhi Associate Professor, Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Dr Sagnik Dey will be leading the project with his counterpart S N Jayaswal of Bihar State Pollution Control Board, Patna.

This study will prove to be a crucial step in identifying sources and transport of PM 2.5 at a very high resolution which will help the board to identify effective mitigation measures.

The mapping will be done at a "very high resolution" of one square km using satellite and ground-based measurement systems.

"These maps will help in developing a strategy to minimise exposure with the help of modelling and survey," the pollution control board said.

Further, using satellite data the study will identify the districts and villages where open burning is prevalent.

Additionally, a detailed air mass trajectory analysis will be carried out to identify the transport path of air pollution to the non-attainment cities. A weekly pollution build-up can also be examined to identify critical pollution period, it said.