Parliament Question: CAAQMS stations

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 707 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026 CAAQMS stations 707. SHRI CHANDRAKANT DAMODAR HANDORE: Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: (a) the number of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS) currently operational in the country; (b) whether there is any proposal to increase air quality monitoring stations in pollution-prone districts; and (c) the timelines for operationalizing the new stations? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH) (a): There are 566 Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations operational in 293 cities across the country. (b) to (c): CPCB has issued guidelines for establishing Ambient Air Quality Monitoring stations namely, “Guidelines for the Measurement of Ambient Air Pollutants (Volume-I: Guidelines for Manual Sampling & Analyses, and Volume-II: Guidelines for Real Time Sampling & Analyses)”. Further, CPCB has also issued “Technical Handbook for Installation, Maintenance, Calibration, Data Connectivity and Data Quality check of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (Real Time)”. Concerned State Pollution Control Boards/Pollution Control Committees install and operate monitoring stations to collect ambient air quality, in line with the criteria issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). ***