Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Friday visited an air quality monitoring station established in association with Washington University for undertaking real-time source apportionment study.
Addressing the media during his visit to the model station at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, Rai said if it is a success, it can be replicated across the national Capital.
The Minister said the Government has joined hands with Washington University to have source apportionment study to obtain data on real-time concentrations of different sources of pollution.
The study will also highlight the contribution of various gases, waste generation and local burning which are the primary factors in air pollution.
“We will launch a targeted campaign based on the findings of the reports, which will help us in identifying the real sources of pollution and to work on reducing the existing pollution levels in the city. Once we are able to identify the real sources, we will be able to take immediate action and balance our efforts in reducing the pollution generated daily by two crore people of Delhi,” he said.
The aim of the Government is to create awareness in the people, by transcending the environmental situation in Delhi into a mass movement, he added. Jain further said several studies have been shared on the Air Quality Index of Delhi and the contribution of PM10, PM2.5 and PM1 levels to the air pollution in the city. Primarily, three studies have relevantly come into the picture, including a 2010 study from Nagpur, a 2016 study by IIT-Kanpur, and a 2018 study by TERI, he said, adding that the different apportionment studies undertaken by different agencies are based on a particular point of time.
The first source apportionment study was undertaken for Delhi in the year 2010 by ‘National Institute of Environmental Engineering’, Nagpur. That study was based on PM 10. IIT Kanpur undertook a source apportionment study for Delhi Government in the year 2016, which was widely quoted, but it was unable to propose real-time concentrations. The study by TERI in the year 2018 gave the source apportionment study based on PM 10 and PM 2.5; however, seasonal source apportionment was used for the study.
“We have 26 pollution monitoring centers of the Delhi government across various locations in Delhi. The mechanism in these centers monitors AQI at a particular point of time in a span of one hour. But the mechanism has failed to detect the sources of this pollution,” he said.
The Delhi government has associated with Washington University to have a real-time source apportionment study to obtain data on real-time concentrations from different sources of pollution. The study also highlighted the contribution of various gases, waste generation and local burning which are the primary factors in air pollution.
“The interim report will be submitted by the University by March 2020 and the model will be functional by the month of June 2020. Further action plans will be devised on the basis of the study report obtained in March,” Rai said.
Rai had on Thursday chaired a meeting with scientists, environmentalists and officials of various other departments and instructed them to prepare a comprehensive action plan to mitigate the impact of pollution.
