Fatehpur Sikri gets a new air quality monitoring station

The Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board has built an air quality monitoring station at Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh. The station was reported on 1 November 2026 and is intended to continuously monitor air around the site’s Mughal-era buildings.

Monitoring and initial readings

The station will provide data on local air pollution, with the stated objective of helping protect the historic buildings from its effects. Agra’s six monitoring locations are Shahjahan Garden, Manoharpur, Rohta, Awas Vikas Sector 3, Sanjay Place and Fatehpur Sikri.

Initial readings at Fatehpur Sikri were between 51 and 100 on the Air Quality Index (AQI), classified as ‘satisfactory’ under India’s AQI scale.

Important Facts for Exams

• Monitoring programme design: Environmental monitoring programmes may establish current conditions or baselines and trends; their intended data use should shape the programme before monitoring begins.
• Air measurement methods: Air-quality measurements can come from direct ambient-air sampling, computer modelling or remote sensing, including satellite platforms.
• National index calculation: India’s National Air Quality Index considers eight pollutants, calculates a sub-index for each, and uses the worst sub-index as the overall reading.