India’s largest iron ore producer NMDC flagged off a Mobile Environment Lab, meant for Chhattisgarh Environment Conservation Board (CECB), from its head office in Hyderabad on October 27.

A first-of-its-kind, according to NMDC, the lab will enable real time monitoring of ambient air quality in the industrial clusters of Chhattisgarh. With a Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station mounted on the vehicle and six portable CAAQMS, the vehicle is set to constantly monitor pollution and help in immediately responding to complaints.

The state-of-the-art vehicle, which will be handed over to CECB in Raipur on November 1, is equipped with water and waste-water quality analyses systems. The facility will bring water stewardship and also record ambient noise quality from the industrial belts of Chhattisgarh, NMDC said in a release on the flagging off of the vehicle by CMD (additional charge) Amitava Mukherjee, Director (Commercial) V. Suresh, Director (Technical) Vinay Kumar and CVO B. Vishwanath.

NMDC is a major miner in Chhattisgarh’s Bailadila region. “We are happy to contribute to the betterment of Chhattisgarh’s eco-health. The first and foremost step towards building a sustainable course of action is to record and monitor the current state of affairs,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Procured through the GeM portal, the environment lab was built on a Primover Bharat Benz vehicle and equipped with CAAQMS, SpectroPhotometer, Drone, BOD Measuring System, Portable Water Analysis Lab, AutoClave and Hot Air Oven, among other scientific instruments.