A new Ministry of Earth Sciences laboratory at IITM Delhi will analyse aerosol toxicity and pair it with air-quality forecasts to pinpoint what drives Delhi-NCR pollution in real time.

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• Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosol Toxicity Analysis Laboratory, called AATAL, at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in New Delhi.
• Singh holds independent charge of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• AATAL has been set up under Mission Mausam, a programme the Ministry of Earth Sciences launched in 2025.
• The laboratory analyses atmospheric gases, aerosols, fine particulate matter (PM2.5), metals, toxic elements and other pollutants.
• Its purpose is to identify real-time sources of air pollution across the Delhi-National Capital Region.
• It aims to separate vehicular emissions, industrial activity, biomass and crop-residue burning, construction and road dust, and pollution transported from neighbouring regions.
• The facility is integrated with IITM's AIRWISE, the Air Quality Warning and Integrated Decision Support System for Emissions.
• AIRWISE combines air-quality forecasts, observations and source-apportionment information to support pollution management.
• The system provides forecasts at a spatial resolution of 400 metres for the next 72 hours.
• This allows assessment of how pollution levels and their likely sources vary across different parts of Delhi.