NTPC & CPCB to set up air quality monitoring stations jointly

New Delhi: NTPC Limited, India's largest power producer, has signed an agreement with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, for providing financial support in installation and commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) on February 26.

As per the agreement, NTPC will provide financial support of Rs 80 crore for installation of 25 CAAQMS across six states and three union territories (UTs). The CAAQMS will be installed in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Patna (Bihar), Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur and Allahabad (all in Uttar Pradesh), Pimpri – Chinchwad (Maharashtra) and Madurai (Tamil Nadu). Along with these cities, CAAQMS will also be installed in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (Port Blair, Silvassa and Daman).

Air quality monitoring stations will be installed in Gwalior, Ranchi, Patna, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Pimpri, Madurai, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

The MoU has been signed by CPCB's Member Secretary Dr Prashant Gargava and NTPC Limited's General Manager (Corporate Environment Management) Ravi V Babu in presence of NTPC Limited's Director (Operations) Prakash Tiwari, Executive Director to CMD Ramesh Babu V and Chief General Manager (SSEA) B Basu. Data garnered from these stations will be used as inputs for Air Quality Index evaluation for the respective cities.

NTPC is continuously making efforts to curb pollution in varied ways. With this, the power major has added another feather in its decorated hat in the journey towards sustainable operations. Further, in line with its commitment to curb pollution, NTPC Limited has also implemented technology to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into high gross calorific value (GCV) fuel that can be co-fired in conventional boilers at its Dadri Plant in Delhi NCR. In doing so, NTPC has achieved a rare feat of being among the global pioneers to convert waste to energy. Keeping sustainability at the helm of all its projects, NTPC has commissioned its first FGD unit at Vindhyachal and is in the process of implementing this eco-friendly technology across all its power plants.