India News | Delhi Polution Body Plans Expansion of State Labs for Real-time Water Testing

New Delhi, Mar 3 (PTI) The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has proposed granting ‘state’ laboratory status to all labs in government colleges and those under the Delhi Jal Board to facilitate real-time water testing across the national capital, officials said on Monday.

The proposal was made during the 74th board meeting of the DPCC on February 13, 2025, at the Delhi Secretariat, where critical issues such as recruitment, pollution control measures, and infrastructure improvements were discussed, they said.

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Currently, Delhi has only one state laboratory for water testing. The proposed move aims to bolster large-scale water quality monitoring and enhance data accuracy, they added.

The DPCC is also set to issue a public notice to gauge the willingness of government institutions to participate in the initiative.

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“In the last meeting held in September 2024, it was directed that more labs, including Delhi Jal Board facilities and those in government colleges, be recognized as state labs to support large-scale water testing,” according to the minutes of the meeting.

A public notice is being issued to assess the willingness of these institutions to participate, it noted.

The board also proposed setting up a centralized digital platform for all recognized laboratories to share water quality data in real time, the officials said.

In a bid to improve water quality in the Yamuna, the DPCC directed officials to expedite the installation of 32 Online Continuous Monitoring Stations (OCMS) along the 22-kilometer stretch of the river within Delhi.

The current system only allows for manual sample collection from nine locations once a month.

The tendering process for the OCMS installation must be prioritized to complete procurement formalities at the earliest, with all necessary actions for National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accreditation and the DPCC lab’s recognition under the Environment Protection Act to be taken within a stipulated timeframe, officials at the meeting said.

The appointment of an expert consultant for the process is expected to be finalized within a month, according to the meeting minutes.

The DPCC also called for a swift study to assess the impact of increased sewage treatment plant (STP) capacity on the Yamuna’s water quality, they said.

Additionally, the committee approved the renewal of contracts for four Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) in different parts of the city.

The board also discussed a proposal to upgrade DPCC’s laboratory facilities with advanced equipment, including Flue Gas Analyzers and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) instruments, to enhance pollution monitoring capabilities, they added.

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