29 air monitoring stations in Haryana inactive for 6 months

According to officials, the firms quoted nearly ₹1.5 crore per station—triple the original rate. ‘The real cost of operating these monitors is far lower than what they demanded,’ they claimed.

The firms tasked with maintaining Haryana’s 29 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Systems (CAAQMS) are quoting “exorbitant” prices for operations, leaving the stations defunct for the last six months, officials of the Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) said on Friday. 

An air monitoring stations at Sector 11 on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

The advanced sensor systems, which feed into the Air Quality Index (AQI), have been inactive since their contracts expired, largely due to what officials described as a monopoly of a handful of foreign firms. The stations form a critical part of compliance with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) norms, but officials admitted that Haryana is currently relying on “legacy data” to assess air quality. 

Contracts expired, tenders failed 

Officials said four different contracts with two France-based firms that had been managing the CAAQMS expired in October and November 2024 and in March 2025. In June, the HSPCB floated a tender for maintenance, but only one bidder applied and was automatically disqualified. A second tender in August saw the same bidder apply again, but the offer was rejected due to high prices. 

According to officials, the firms quoted nearly ₹1.5 crore per station—triple the original rate. ‘The real cost of operating these monitors is far lower than what they demanded,’ they claimed.

“The contracts were not renewed due to the exorbitant rates, and in the absence of regular maintenance, these systems started shutting down one by one,” an official said. 

According to officials, the two France-headquartered companies had long maintained their dominance. One began managing four stations in 2010, while the other gradually took over 19 in 2019 and six in 2020, until the contracts lapsed. 

In Gurugram, out of the four CAAQMS stations—at Sector 51, Vikas Sadan, Teri Gram, and Manesar—only the one at Manesar, operated by the India Meteorological Department, remains functional. The other three have been inactive for six to seven months. 

Activists say this blackout has left the city blind to pollution risks. “A city like Gurugram needs at least 20 air quality monitoring systems to cover even residential areas, but only four are present, and those are defunct,” said Ruchika Sethi Takkar, a member of the civil society group ‘Citizens for Clean Air’. “From a citizen’s perspective, in a rapidly urbanising city—where construction, demolition, and materials like sand and silica contribute significantly to pollution—air quality monitoring systems not only need to be robust, but more of them also need to be installed.”

HSPCB negotiations underway 

Jatinder Pal, senior environmental engineer (SEE) and in charge of the Scientific Service Cell at HSPCB, said the board has been negotiating with multiple firms for four months. “We’re in the final stages of the tender, and a firm will be selected soon. Until then, an agreement with the same firms and HSPCB is expected to be reached by September 24 for smooth operations and maintenance of air quality monitoring stations temporarily,” he said. 

“All these CAAQMS will become operational in two weeks once the firm is given the work order,” Pal added. 

He confirmed that the HSPCB had advertised on November 7, 2024, inviting bids, but accused the France-based companies of charging three times the actual cost of maintenance. “This is unacceptable, as it is a burden on the taxpayers since these systems can be run and maintained even at low costs. Thus, we put out a strong front to get the overall cost down,” he said. 

A senior HSPCB official said the board is now trying to bring in more competition. “We are encouraging multiple private players based in the USA, Japan, and other countries to run these systems here at reasonable prices. Right now, we are relying on the legacy data to monitor the air quality in the state,” the official said. 

Under CPCB guidelines, cities with populations between 10 and 50 lakh must have at least five CAAQMS and three manual monitors. Gurugram currently falls short of this benchmark. 

Sethi emphasised that both the state and central governments need to treat air monitoring as a health priority. “The air quality monitoring network must be strengthened and made more reliable to enable countermeasures. Air pollution, a silent killer, is a major contributor to non-communicable diseases, harming health from childhood,” she said.