NewzVille Desk
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the world’s first- of -its-kind ‘Air Pollution Analysis’ facility for Delhi NCR onSaturday. Known as ‘Integrated Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Toxicity Analysis Laboratory ‘ (AATAL), it is also equipped to identify real-time sources of air pollution.
Describing it as a first-of-its-kind integrated facility in the world, the Minister said Delhi-NCR had been chosen in view of the serious public concern over air pollution. He said the facility would take air-quality assessment beyond simply reporting pollution levels to identifying the composition of pollutants, their sources, their relative contributions and their potential health implications, while providing real-time information and advance forecasts to support timely action.
The inauguration took place at IITM’s Delhi Branch in the presence of Dr. T. Srinivasa Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. A. Suryachandra Rao, Director, IITM and DG IMD Dr Mahapatra.
The facility has been established under ‘Mission Mausam’ announced by PM Narendra Modi to strengthen scientific understanding of atmospheric pollution and provide actionable evidence for air-quality management in Delhi-NCR. The laboratory brings together advanced atmospheric measurement instruments, detailed chemical analysis, pollution-source identification and decision-support capabilities within an integrated framework.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Jitendra Singh said India had made substantial progress over the past 10–12 years in air-quality forecasting and analysis. He said the new facility represented a significant step forward because it would help establish not only how much pollution is present in the atmosphere, but also what it consists of and where it originates.
AATAL will help scientists distinguish between different sources of air pollution, including vehicular emissions, industrial activity, biomass and crop-residue burning, construction and road dust, and pollutants transported from surrounding regions. By estimating the relative contribution of these sources, the facility will help authorities understand which activities are driving poor air quality at a particular time and where interventions may be most effective.
