LAHORE: The Punjab University (PU) on Monday installed 10 gadgets to measure the causes of air pollution at various locations in the city.

Increasing levels of air pollution (indoors and outdoors) have significant environmental and human health consequences at regional and global levels. The country lacks the capabilities to manage air quality and major challenges are limited financial, human, and technical resources to improve and manage air quality.

The PU with the help of Cranfield University, UK, has established an air quality monitoring network to perform high-resolution spatiotem-poral measurements of air quality for the first time in Pakistan.

The sensors have been installed at Anarkali, DHA, Johar Town, Bahria Town, Township, PU, Walton, Iqbal Town, and Wapda Town.

These sensors will provide realtime data and will be open access for the public, students, researchers, institutions, policymakers and international agencies.

The findings will be used to educate the public, government and lawmakers to control health hazards of pollutants and curb pollution.

The data will be used by researchers to assess air quality impact on human and animal life and environmental health.PU`s Dr Zulfiqar Ali and Cranfield University`s Dr Zaheer Ahmad Nasar have established partnership programmes to develop the capacity for postgraduate teaching and research on air quality management in Pakistan.

They are participating in the project entitled `High-resolution Spatio-temporal measurements of air quality in Lahore`.

This study is part of a project `Enabling mitigating the air quality challenges in HinduKush Himalaya` led by Dr Nasar, Prof Neil Harris and Dr Chris Walton from Cranfield University in collaboration with Dr Ali and Dr Iqbal Mead (regional programme manager Atmosphere,ICIMOD, Nepal).

The academics from the UK and Pakistan have conducted four workshops prior to establishing the air quality network.

PU students and researchers participated to extend their knowledge on air quality challenges and their drivers in Pakistan and the potential of lowcost air pollution sensors to investigate and manage air quality.

The PU has already established a network of sensors throughout Lahore and they will extend this network to further areas of Pakistan and other countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya in the next phase. Staff Reporter