An Air Quality Monitoring Station (AQMS) to monitor the air quality of Colombo city has been installed jointly by the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) and the Public Health Department of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC).
The AQMS, installed in the CMC premises was opened by Colombo Mayor Rosy Senanayake yesterday morning.
The AQMS will gather the data on air quality of Colombo City on a regular basis.
The data will be utilized when carrying out development and other activities in Colombo.
“The CMC is duty bound to ensure a better air-quality for Colombo and the suburbs,” Mayor Senanayake said.
“The CMC is responsible for making Colombo city a livable city and therefore an air quality monitoring system is highly is an important factor,” she said.
“Motor vehicle emissions is the main cause for air pollution in Colombo amounting to 60 percent.
As a remedy to this issue, a proper public transport system has to be introduced by the government. By introducing a proper and efficient public transport system within the Colombo city limits will help drastically reduce the air pollution in the city,” the Mayor said. “Parallel to the issue of air pollution, attention should be drawn on environment pollution in Colombo and the suburbs as the issues relating to garbage collection and disposal have become a key issue,”the Mayor said.
Mayor Senanayake said that people have not understood that garbage is a resource. People should be educated on how garbage can be properly managed.
“It is important to make people aware on proper garbage management and reducing air pollution.
This education mechanism paves the way for protecting the environment and moreover to convert Colombo city into a livable city,” she said.
(Daily News)