Smart and Affordable systems for Environmental Monitoring, India

Environmental Compliance Monitoring team organized a training programme on Smart and Affordable systems for Environmental Monitoring for regulators and environmental officials scheduled from 24th to 28th September, at AAETI. A diverse group of participants gathered from different Indian states (Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi NCR and Kolkata) and from diverse fields (PCBs, industries, laboratory). Environmental officials from different African countries also came together all the way from Tanzania, Namibia, Ethiopia, Zanzibar and Swaziland to participate in the training programme.

The First day kick started by introduction to CSE and AAETI by Nivit Kumar Yadav and Dr. Banerjee. Following which the lectures on concept of Monitoring and aspects on air and water monitoring were conducted by Dr Basu to set the tone of the training programme. Visit to Tijara fort was arranged for the participants to give them some time to unwind.

Day 2 was dedicated to discussion for Air quality monitoring Smart and affordable systems. Nivit Kumar Yadav, CSE set the tone for the day by a presentation on the concept and challenges of the Smart and Affordable monitoring. Guest speaker Mr. Abhijit Pathak (CPCB Scientist C), then gave a detailed informative and engaging presentation on the principles and instrumentation of Smart and affordable Air monitoring equipments. This was followed by the presentations by manufacturers on their perspective and experiences. The day ended with demonstration session by the manufacturers for the participants to have a feel.

The sessions for the third day were designed to cover the aspects of monitoring with respect to Water quality. The day started with presentation by guest speaker Mr. A Manoharan. Presentations and demonstrations from the manufacturers were held in the second half of the day for the participants on water monitoring equipments and kits.

The fourth day started with a lecture on Continuous Emission monitoring systems by the guest faculty Mr. J S Kamyotra, former MS CPCB. And then participants were taken for a site visit at Munjal Showa Ltd., Gurgaon to demonstrate the emission monitoring systems, CEMS and ETP set up by the industry. They treat the wastewater generated by the process and reuse up to 90% of the treated water.

The concluding day, the topic of discussion was Citizen Monitoring. The tone was set by Digvijay Singh Bisht on a brief presentation on the concept of Citizen monitoring followed by a detailed presentation by Col Tiwari on the implementation of Citizen monitoring by reviewing the case study of DLF foundation. This was followed by a class exercise to understand how to determine monitoring points.

The training programme ended with a valedictory session before heading to Delhi.