Due to the lack of open data, inadequately reasoned assessments of the environmental situation in the country appear in the global and local media. Experts believe that Tajikistan’s existing air quality data monitoring systems require reform.
The Committee on Environmental Protection under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan is currently monitoring air quality. Sanginmurod Samiyev, head of the committee’s environmental monitoring department, told CABAR.asia that 28 air quality measurement stations are now operating in the country. He said that data from these stations are available to the government and are used to compile reports on the state of air quality.
There are 16 automated air quality monitoring stations. Five in Dushanbe, 11 in major cities of Tajikistan and 1 station at the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe.
“Every year these stations are checked and calibrated (adjusted – ed. note) by the Finnish Meteorological Institute“, – says Sanginmurod Samiev.
According to Samiyev, this volume is not enough, as the country is 93 per cent mountainous and “it is objectively clear that the air condition in one area may differ from another.”
“No brainer, Dushanbe city is in a pit where there is already a different air circulation,” Samiev said.
Samiyev believes that Tajikistan does not “need to create an individual methodology for an air quality monitoring and auditing standard”.
“It is enough to introduce a single air quality standard in a regional format, where all Central Asian countries would adhere to this standard,” Sanginmurod Samiyev said.
Weather quality data can be found on the meteo.tj website, under the environmental data section, Samiyev said.
However, there is no such data on the resource mentioned by Samiyev.
Overview of monitoring systems based on open data sources
International organizations that monitor air quality use a variety of data sources. Ground-based (stations, sensors and monitors) and satellite-based. The most quoted and authoritative are aqicn.org, data from the World Bank, the IQAir monitoring resource referred to by the UN, upen.org, a resource on carbon footprint and air quality monitoring, environmental monitoring and the implementation of the Paris Climate Watch agreement, and of course the state environmental control agencies (Tajikistan), NASA, and WHO reports.
According to open sources, there are at least 10 non-state air quality monitoring stations in Tajikistan.
Of these, only data from six sources are used in monitoring by international organizations, including the UN and WHO.
Independent studies by international organizations usually use either open-source materials or ready-made studies by institutes.
For example, this can be seen in the 2023 Tajikistan air quality study by the World Bank, WHO reports (1), Asian Development Bank, UNEP, etc. Inspection of data sources and indicators shows that as a rule, they use either limited data or outdated information.
The authors of the original study and data collection themselves claim and warn that the amount of data collected is incomplete due to a weak air quality monitoring system and they usually have to use a single source of data and trust already prepared publications.
“The monitoring systems currently in place across the region are far less reliable than they were a decade ago. The data in Table 7 summarize the key characteristics of each of the five countries included in this study. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have the most comprehensive systems, but all countries – even those with very meagre capacity – have had to wind down their operations in recent years. Monitoring networks in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Tajikistan are particularly limited,” the Asian Development Bank study notes.
The resource usually referred to in stories and reports of UN branches and international organizations is the International Air Quality Index system. This source relies only on data from monitors in the Sino district, Dushanbe city and at the U.S. Embassy (1) in Tajikistan.
Also in the public domain a large amount of machine-readable data on the environmental situation with the air of the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan and in the region of Central Asia, from different research organizations, on a specific request can be obtained on search systems and NASA data reserve, where they collect historical data using satellites with different sensitivity sensors.
Assessing the situation and forming the misconception in the media
Dushanbe has entered the ranking of the “most polluted air” in the world. From 2020-2022, the capital did not leave the top 10, and in 2022 it ranked 4th.
Tajikistan’s hydrometeorological department is highly critical of these rankings and believes they are biased.
“Open monitoring systems and researchers give one indicator for different regions and districts of Tajikistan. This is wrong, as the country’s land surface is 93% mountains and only 7% plains. Here it is objectively clear that the air condition in one area may differ from another,” Samiyev added.
According to Samiyev, such ratings negatively affect the country’s image
“First of all, the lack of data and the formation of opinion in studies by international organizations affects the image of the country. As a chain reaction it forms misunderstanding in the media, then {misunderstandin} among our the citizens, as they trust these sources,” Samiev said.
Note that University of Chicago experts in the 2018 study also argue that many areas of the world lack “extensive pollution monitoring systems.”
“Reliable, geographically extensive pollution measurements are critical to understanding the extent of air pollution and its health impacts. Unfortunately, many areas of the world currently lack extensive pollution monitoring systems,” the study said.
Ikrom Mamadov, a Tajik eco-activist and head of the Public Organisation Youth Group on Protection of Environment, also said data on air quality in the country are insufficient.
“We need to first update the legal framework that regulates these issues. Taking into account what Samiyev said about the regional approach (unified quality standards for all of Central Asia, ed.),” Mamadov added.
According to him, it is necessary to create an automated and stable monitoring system, both governmental and public, as it is done all over the world.
Then, after several years of data collection and analysis, a mechanism for using these data for the development of sectors of the economy should be developed.
“This applies to all sectors without exception: transportation, industry, social sector, urban development and so on. Even on the issues of glacier melting,” Ikrom Mamadov noted.
According to experts, there is a need for serious reform of the air quality monitoring system in Tajikistan. The existing methods and volume of data are insufficient for an objective assessment of the environmental situation, which leads to the dissemination of inaccurate data in the media and a negative impact on the image of the country.
Experts emphasize the importance of creating a unified regional monitoring standard for all Central Asian countries, which will unify and improve the quality of collected data.
An important task is also to update the legal and regulatory framework and introduce an automated monitoring system that will include both state and public resources.
Only an integrated approach, including data collection, analysis and use, can contribute to the sustainable development of various sectors of the economy and the improvement of the environmental situation in the country.
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