Delhi, the Capital of India covers an area of about 1483 sq km and having a population around 105 lakh. Due to more and more urbanization and other related anthropogenic activities, the ground water sources are depleting in terms of quantity and quality.

Treatment of water and wastewater by using SRP- Technology is new and renovated technology by which the alum (aluminum sulphate ) which is used in water treatment plant could be recovered to the tune of 80 to 90 % and reused in the same treatment process. In this technology alum could be recovered from discarded sludge of water treatment plant. By adopting this technology, operation cost could be reduced nearly 60% .

Performance evaluation of various Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) namely Jilmil, G.T.Karnal Road, Lawrence Road, Mangolpuri, Mayapuri, S.M.A. Industrial Area, Wazirpur Industrial Area,of NCT-Delhi was carried out during August to December, 2004. Composite samples were collected from inlet ,outlet points and various stages of treatment of CETPs and analysed for their physico-chemical including metals. Coagulation studies using various coagulants such Lime and Alum were also carried out.

Treatability study of the wastewater from the CETP- Lawrance Road was carried out to assess the feasibility of treating the waste water by biological process (Activated Sludge Process) in laboratory by batch process . The feasibility of the CETP wastewater for biological treatment was experimentally confirmed.

CPCB has taken-up a study to evaluate the performance of already existing CAAQMS of various makes, maintained by Industries/SPCBs/National Institutes. The stations approximately 200 nos. have been set up by large industries on the basis of environmental clearance condition given by MoEF. The objectives of this assignment is given below:

• To evaluate the performance of AAQMS of various makes.
• To assess the technical services offered by Indian Agents of reputed Suppliers.
• To ensure that the data produced from Automatic Analyzers are accurate & reliable.

Experience gained through this study will be utilized to modernize present Air Quality Monitoring System

A range of monitoring stations operated and maintained by SPCBs / major industries were covered for the required evaluation / assessment.

Review of the associated issues are being performed through:

• Inspection of Monitoring Stations
• Detailed Questionnaire
• Personal Interviews
• Meeting with Indian Agents towards local sustainability. Local sustainability requires the continuing availability of calibration gases, permeation tubes, spare parts for calibration, repair & maintenance, together with the necessary skill for equipment operation and calibration.

The detailed report including observations of the team on the Sampling system, Housing (room where CAAQMS is installed), Analyzers & Weather monitoring instruments, Calibration system, Management of Analyzers etc. along with recommendations were sent to respective industries to take necessary steps / actions towards implementation of suggested recommendations.

• Air consent order which has been issued by SPCB to industry should be amended and a clause on proper operation & maintenance of CAAQMS including proper calibration of analyzer as per guidelines issued by CPCB may be included
• Develop a criteria for evaluating performance of existing AAQMS while processing their applications for environmental award.

• To form a dedicated team of Scientists/Engineers who will periodically visit the monitoring stations and check calibration of the analyzers maintained by industry / other agencies.
• To prepare draft guidelines / rules for Quality Assurance and Quality Control.

Feasibility study of modernization of National Air Quality Stations And Networking in India and involvement's of Private Organizations for running the stations and acquiring the Data and transfer to Central Agency in light of experience in France and European countries.

The present Indian air quality monitoring system is limited in its scope and accuracy. Information transferred to CPCB is scarce, and sometimes unreliable. CPCB feels the need to modernize and amplify it according to international standards.

Internationally, the use of automatic monitoring stations is widely recommended because of its accuracy, reliability and the possibility to develop alert systems in the case of pollution peaks. Manual stations are mostly limited to some specific pollution parameters for which automatic monitoring is not yet feasible (some heavy metals, PAH, some particles,...).

The Indian air quality monitoring system should, be modernized to address the following problems:

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Delhi, has taken-up a French financial study on modernization of National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations & Networking in India and integrating private participation in air quality monitoring.

Objectives of the project Assignment:

• To review the existing/ current status of AAQ monitoring from a gap analysis point of view

• To evaluate the possible various options including private participation in managing Automatic AAQMS.

• To recommend the cost – effective and sustainable model for Private Sector participation in Ambient Air Quality Monitoring
• To recommend guidelines for the installation of automatic air quality monitoring systems in Indian cities.

The agreement was executed between CPCB on behalf of MoEF and the French Consulting firm ETI / Burgeap, Cedex – FRANCE engaged by the french administrator. The agreed scope of the work as per TOR & approved inception report was executed in two phases. Phase – I of the project includes evaluation of the existing/present Air Quality Monitoring System from a gap-analysis point of view, and the evaluation of the various options in which Administrative and Functional responsibility can be divided in a public-private parternership for management of expensive Automatic Air Quality Monitoring Analyzers / Stations. Phase – II of the project includes detailed study in two cities Delhi & Kanpur for optimizing the monitoring requirement and generating guidelines for the extension of Automatic Air Quality Monitoring in India etc.

1. French Mission visited CPCB, Delhi for executing project on Feasibility study for private participation in Continuous Air Quality Monitoring in India. Discussion was held for identification of the cities where specific analysis will be made & finalizing TOR.
2. Comments (modifications/amendments) were sent to French Consultants on the Draft Inception Report of the FASEP Air Quality Monitoring Study provided by them. Modified inception report received after incorporating suggested amendments was approved by CPCB.
3. French Delegates visited CPCB, Delhi for feasibility study of modernization of National Air Quality Station and Networking in India and involvement’s of Private Organization for running the stations and acquiring the data and transfer to Central Agency in light of experience in France and European Countries.
4. During French Mission visit (Duration: January 20-30, 2004) required assessment / technical audits were made in four cities. Interaction meetings were held with various user groups - CII, Industrial representatives, NGOs, Universities.
5. During French Mission visit (Duration: February 18-28, 2004) Required works for Passive sampling campaign were initiated in Delhi and Kanpur. Meetings were held with various service providers. Visit was also arranged in remaining one city of Ahamadabad.
6. After careful planning & grid design, about 200 sampling locations in Delhi and, about 200 sampling locations in Kanpur were also identified on Feb.28-29, 2004s and sampling tubes were also hanged on March 02,2004,following the set guidelines and the exposed tubes are collected on March 14, 2004.
7. Required necessary Visits and Meeting were arranged for French delegates.
8. A Technical Steering Committee has been constituted for the purpose of Reviewing / Evaluating the findings of the French financed study on modernization of National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations & Networking in India and integrating private participation in air quality monitoring. Total four meetings were held during 2004.

French Study Recommendations to Improve the Existing System are as follows:

• The public sector has experienced the use of automatic AQM stations in some cities of which Delhi, Kolkata, Chenai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow. The first experiences have been difficult. Operation is not an easy task and the providers of these imported equipments who have often been asked to maintain the systems have used these first experiences as training grounds for their own staff. The last experience is that of Kolkata. Results have been good, the provider and the local PCBs have invested a great deal in training.
• Measured air pollution concentration given by these stations is always below the Indian air quality standards and is not really verified nor taken into account when State PCBs publish air quality information.

CPCB has started in 1984, National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP) to identify air pollution and assess the effectiveness of pollution control programmes and air quality trends.

NAMP presently includes a network of 295 National Air Quality Monitoring Stations (NAMP) covering 99 cities in 28 States and 4 union territories. These stations are manual and are operated with involvement of various local or State agencies. The air quality parameters that are regularly monitored are SPM, S0₂, N0₂ and RSPM.

CPCB receives monthly information from NAMP (monthly and daily averages). This information is processed by CPCB, which has records of the air quality evolution trends for the last 15 years for 9 major cities, and 24 critically polluted industrial areas.

To find out the workable solution for India, a fact-finding mission visit was scheduled for the identified countries Germany, France, U.K., Malaysia and Thailand having various models of management – Public Private partnerships. The proposed Fact finding mission will help to integrate effective private participation & modernize our Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Network.

For executing the required tasks to be undertaken a list of potential working visits / meeting to be organized in each country was prepared & sent to GTZ Office, Delhi providing financial support & other logistic arrangements for the required visits.

Required short duration visit were organized to France (Study Period: September 27 – 29, 2004), U. K. (Study Period: September 30 – October 01, 2004), & Germany (Study Period: October 04 – 06, 2004). Remaining visits to Malaysia & Thailand could not be held due to administrative reasons at GTZ, Delhi.

• National Air Quality Monitoring System
• About Management of Ambient Air Quality Monitoring (AAQM) Network
• About use of passive sampling campaign & other manual monitoring complementing the on-line activities
• Air Quality Monitoring Budget / Analysis of financial flow
• Other critical observations on data dissemination and QA/QC activities etc.

The Central Pollution Control Board in association with Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India has organized "Meeting of Experts to Strengthen Environment Management Infrastructure in SAARC Countries" at Hotel Ashoka, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi on 14^th & 15^th October, 2004. The meeting was inaugurated by Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests on 14^th October, 2004 foenoon.

The meeting was attended by nominated experts from SAARC Countries viz. Bhutan (one expert); Maldives (one expert); Nepal (two experts) and Pakistan (one expert) apart from experts from India. While nominated expert from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could not attend the meeting. The invited guest speakers from UNEP-RRCAP, Bangkok; NEERI, Nagpur; CII, New Delhi; IARI, Pune apart from MoEF and CPCB also deliberated in the meeting. The deliberations in the meeting generated consiousness about capacity building in the region to realize environmental goals as well as aims to provide impetus to various initiative and Policy measures undertaken by various SAARC Countries governments for environmental sustenance and to deal with burgeoning environmental problems. The deliberations in the meeting in form of various presentations and Meeting Inference have been compiled and presented.

The Central Pollution Control Board has been allocated the amount of US$ 7.0 Lakh (Rs. 3.15 crores) under Japanese Debt Relief Grant Assistance for procurement of various equipment by Department of Economic Affairs. CPCB has undertaken MOU with NTPC Consultancy Wing for various procurement procedures through International Bidding.

The Technical Committee was constituted at CPCB for finalization of Technical specifications of equipment to be procured. The Technical Committee has finalized the technical specifications and these have been included in Bid Documents. The procurement is in progress.