Smart and Affordable Monitoring

October 30, 2018

Environmental quality monitoring has taken a back seat in the global South owing to several limitations such as exorbitant cost, need for trained manpower, land requirement and limited data. Limited data undermines the policy making process of the government. In order to overcome the limitation with conventional monitoring, there is a trend towards low cost sensor based equipment. However, regulatory agencies have resisted the move to go for low-cost sensor based monitoring because of credibility of data generated. Centre for Science and Environment believes there are numerous areas where regulatory agencies can opt for low cost sensor based instrument to strengthen their existing environmental quality monitoring system. 

The document highlights how regulatory agencies in the developing countries can use SMART and Affordable systems/equipment to address the gap of lack of monitoring data as well as obtaining data that has reliable degree of precision and accuracy. This will be useful in strengthening the overall environmental governance of the country.

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