What Gets Measured, Gets Managed: Monitoring as the Key to India’s Clean Air Future
- Dr. Nirali Goswami
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Introduction
India is at the centre of the global clean air challenge. 13th of the world's top 20 most polluted cities are located in India, according to a new report published on March 11, 2025. Air pollution has become not only an environmental issue but also a public health and economic crisis. Yet, despite ambitious policies and growing awareness, progress often falls short of expectations. The reason is simple: what we cannot measure, we cannot manage. Air quality monitoring is the invisible backbone of every clean air strategy. Without reliable data, pollution remains unseen, unaccounted for, and unaddressed. To secure India’s clean air future, expanding and strengthening monitoring networks is not optional; it is essential.
Why Air Quality Monitoring Matters?
Air quality monitoring is one of the most critical foundations for protecting public health, ecosystems, and economic development. Without reliable data, air pollution remains an “invisible threat”, affecting every breath we take while often going unnoticed. Monitoring transforms this invisible risk into measurable evidence, enabling science, policy, and communities to respond effectively.
Protecting Public Health
Air pollution is a leading environmental health risk worldwide, and monitoring serves as an early warning system.
Respiratory and Cardiovascular Impacts: Continuous tracking of pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, ozone, and nitrogen dioxide helps identify dangerous exposure levels linked to asthma, COPD, heart attacks, and strokes. Even short-term rises in PM2.5 increase hospital visits by 2–3%.
Cancer Risk: Monitoring carcinogens like benzene and formaldehyde helps assess long-term risks, mainly as outdoor air pollution is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
Vulnerable Groups: Children, the elderly, and pregnant women are especially at risk. Local monitoring supports safer decisions for schools, healthcare, and family wellbeing.
Environmental and Agricultural Sustainability
Monitoring is also essential for ecosystem and food security.
Forests and Biodiversity: Tracking SO₂ and NOx helps assess the impacts of acid rain, while hotspot monitoring protects sensitive habitats.
Aquatic Systems: Pollutant deposition, including mercury, affects water quality and marine life.
Agriculture: Ground-level ozone damages crops, reducing yields by 10–15% in polluted regions, while acid-forming pollutants degrade soil fertility.
Emergency Response and Safety
Monitoring networks are critical during environmental emergencies:
Wildfires: Real-time data on smoke concentrations guides evacuation and health advisories.
Industrial Accidents: Monitoring supports rapid assessment of chemical releases and safe re-entry decisions.
Dust Storms and Inversions: Continuous measurements help forecast pollution episodes and issue public warnings.
Climate Change and Science
Air quality monitoring overlaps with climate action:
Greenhouse Gas Tracking: Monitoring enables verification of emission reduction commitments and identifies high-emission sectors.
Research and Trends: Long-term datasets reveal seasonal patterns, evaluate policy effectiveness, and support health studies linking pollution exposure with disease.
India’s Current Monitoring Landscape
India’s air quality monitoring framework today is a blend of traditional ground-based stations, satellite observations, low-cost IoT sensors, and advanced data modeling techniques. Together, these approaches provide valuable insights into pollution trends, but they also expose the gaps in spatial coverage, accessibility, and representativeness. A closer look at each component highlights both progress and persisting challenges.
Ground-Based Monitoring Networks
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) operates the National Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Program (NAMP), which combines continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) and manual monitoring stations to measure pollutants such as PM₁₀, PM₂.₅, SO₂, and NO₂. These reference-grade stations are highly accurate and form the regulatory backbone of India’s clean air programs.
As of 2023, there are over 400 CAAQMS across the country, but coverage remains uneven, concentrated in Tier-1 cities, while smaller towns, peri-urban, and rural regions are still under-monitored.
Evidence from these stations shows stark gaps: fewer than 1% of PM₁₀ measurements meet WHO guidelines, and only 19% meet Indian standards.
Case Study: In Ahmedabad, continuous monitoring data formed the basis of the city’s Air Information and Response (AIR) Plan, which provides early warnings to citizens and hospitals, reducing emergency room visits during severe pollution episodes.
Satellite Data Utilization
Satellite observations, particularly Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), have become essential for filling spatial gaps in monitoring. They provide long-term, regional-scale views of air quality trends.
Databases like the 1-km PM₂.₅ dataset allow for nationwide analysis of pollution inequalities.
They help track transboundary transport (e.g., dust storms, crop-burning plumes) that ground monitors cannot fully capture.
Case Study: During stubble burning episodes in Punjab and Haryana, satellite AOD images combined with ground sensors helped identify smoke transport to Delhi, enabling targeted advisories and emergency school closures.
IoT and Low-Cost Sensors
Among the most transformative innovations are IoT-based low-cost sensor networks, which provide hyperlocal, real-time data at a fraction of the cost of reference stations.
Low-cost sensors capture pollution peaks at the street and neighbourhood scale, which larger monitoring stations often miss.
Calibration and correction models have improved their reliability, making them increasingly useful for citizen engagement and supplementary data collection.
Case Study: In Bengaluru, a school-based low-cost sensor project provided data showing poor air quality during morning traffic hours. Parents and teachers used this information to reschedule outdoor activities, reducing children’s exposure.
While satellites and machine learning offer regional and modelled perspectives, low-cost sensors directly empower communities and generate actionable local evidence.
Machine Learning and Data Modelling
Machine learning has advanced India’s monitoring landscape by integrating sparse ground data with satellite and meteorological inputs to produce high-resolution PM₂.₅ estimates.
Daily PM₂.₅ maps at 10-km or finer resolution have been created, filling gaps in under-monitored regions.
Spatial cross-validation methods improve accuracy, making these models robust tools for policy evaluation.
Case Study: In Indore, ML-based exposure models, combined with local sensor data, informed clean transport policies under the Smart Cities program, contributing to the city’s recognition as one of India’s cleanest urban centres.
Gaps and Challenges in India’s Monitoring Ecosystem
Despite steady progress, India’s monitoring network is still far from adequate. Some of the most critical challenges include:
Unequal Coverage
Monitoring stations are disproportionately located in Tier-1 cities, leaving smaller towns, peri-urban belts, and rural areas as blind spots.
Rural India, where more than 65% of the population lives, has virtually no continuous monitoring, despite heavy exposure to biomass burning, dust, and agricultural emissions.
Data Silos
Data generated by CPCB, State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), private sensor networks, and satellites often exists in isolation.
Lack of interoperability and centralized data-sharing platforms prevents a holistic picture of air quality across scales.
Accessibility and Transparency
Although CPCB publishes real-time data through the National Air Quality Index (AQI), raw datasets are not always user-friendly, open, or accessible for communities, researchers, or local governments.
Many citizens remain unaware of the meaning or health relevance of AQI levels, limiting behavioural change.
Quality Assurance of Low-Cost Sensors
While IoT and low-cost sensors are expanding rapidly, questions remain about their accuracy and long-term stability.
Without standardized calibration protocols and certification frameworks, the reliability of data from such devices can vary widely.
Funding and Maintenance Gaps
Setting up and running Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) costs crores of rupees per site, and many stations face downtime due to maintenance and budgetary constraints.
This results in incomplete datasets and reduced trust in reported numbers.
Opportunities for Strengthening Monitoring
The very challenges of today open up opportunities to innovate and build a resilient monitoring ecosystem for tomorrow:
Hybrid Monitoring Networks
A tiered approach—where a few high-precision reference stations anchor networks of low-cost sensors and are supplemented with satellite observations—can provide both accuracy and scale.
Such systems can cover far more regions at lower costs while maintaining scientific credibility.
Open Data and Digital Platforms
Creating centralized, open-access dashboards and APIs would allow policymakers, researchers, startups, and citizens to co-create solutions.
Transparency in data fosters accountability and public trust.
Hyperlocal Monitoring for Communities
Deploying sensors in schools, hospitals, industrial zones, and residential neighbourhoods can generate data that directly guides decisions—such as restricting outdoor play or issuing localized advisories.
Citizen science initiatives can complement government monitoring by capturing “street-level” realities.
AI, Machine Learning, and Predictive Analytics
Using real-time monitoring data combined with weather forecasts and machine learning algorithms can enable early warning systems.
Predictive models can identify pollution episodes 24–48 hours in advance, giving cities time to issue advisories or impose short-term interventions (like restricting traffic).
Learning from Global Best Practices
China’s rapid expansion of its monitoring network, with real-time transparency, enabled vigorous enforcement and public accountability.
The U.S. AirNow platform integrates local monitors, satellite data, and forecasts into a single public portal.
India can adapt these models to its unique socio-economic and geographical realities.
Policy and Governance Linkages
Monitoring is not just a scientific exercise; it is the backbone of effective governance.
Evidence-Based Policymaking
Monitoring data allows governments to identify pollution hotspots, evaluate which interventions are working, and direct resources where they are needed most.
Compliance and Enforcement
Real-time emissions tracking from industries and construction sites, integrated with monitoring networks, can help enforce environmental regulations and reduce violations.
Public Right to Know
Transparent access to data empowers citizens, civil society groups, and even courts to hold polluters accountable.
In cities like Delhi, citizen petitions—based on monitoring evidence—have driven judicial interventions for clean air.
Integration with Climate Action
Air quality monitoring also supports India’s commitments under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by tracking co-benefits of emission reduction strategies (e.g., phasing out coal, switching to renewables, or promoting EVs).
Aligning monitoring with Mission LiFE ensures behavior change campaigns are backed by real-time evidence.
The Way Forward: Roadmap for India’s Clean Air Future
To make monitoring the central pillar of India’s clean air journey, several strategic actions are needed:
Expand Monitoring Coverage
Scale up networks to cover Tier-2, Tier-3, and rural areas.
Ensure at least one reference-grade station in every district, supported by satellite and low-cost sensor networks.
Invest in Innovation
Support startups and research institutions working on AI-driven monitoring, low-cost sensors, and advanced calibration models.
Encourage public-private partnerships for cost-effective deployments.
Capacity Building
Train state and municipal officials, as well as school and hospital administrators, to interpret and act on air quality data.
Build citizen literacy on AQI to drive community participation.
Promote Collaboration
Strengthen partnerships between government agencies, academia, civil society, and industry.
Create joint research platforms to evaluate interventions using real-world monitoring evidence.
Make Data Public and Actionable
Provide real-time AQI alerts, school advisories, and workplace guidance through mobile apps, public displays, and SMS alerts.
Translate technical data into clear, actionable health advice for citizens.
Conclusion: What Gets Measured, Gets Managed
Air pollution is often described as an invisible killer, but monitoring gives it shape, visibility, and urgency. Without strong monitoring, India’s clean air policies remain aspirations; with it, they become enforceable realities. Monitoring is the compass by which the nation can navigate its way to a healthier future, ensuring that every intervention is grounded in evidence and every action is accountable. What gets measured, gets managed—and in India’s case, what gets monitored will decide whether future generations inherit skies filled with smog or with possibility.
This is where collaborative initiatives such as the Indian Air Quality Network (IAQN) become critical. By bringing together government agencies, researchers, industry partners, and citizens, IAQN is working to expand monitoring coverage, promote open data, and build the culture of measurement India so urgently needs. India’s clean air future will not be secured by technology or policy alone, but by networks of people and institutions committed to turning data into action. Monitoring, therefore, is not just a technical backbone—it is the foundation of accountability, community empowerment, and sustainable progress.
A Collective Responsibility
In this modern age, air quality is everyone's responsibility. Each action we take can contribute to a healthier planet. Planting trees, choosing public transportation, or supporting local clean air initiatives can make a difference. Awareness is the first step toward change.
Join us in advocating for cleaner air. Together, we can help nature regain its voice.
Let’s work together to ensure our world thrives in harmony with nature.
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