Soon, Delhi’s air pollution sources to be available in real time
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Soon, Delhi’s air pollution sources to be available in real time
Subject: Environment
Section: Pollution
Context: Delhi would soon be able to know the different sources of air pollution in Delhi and their percentages on a real-time basis with the Delhi government all set to put the data in the public domain through a new website.
More on the News:
- Chief Minister is scheduled to inaugurate a ‘super site’ and mobile laboratory (a lab-on-van capturing air pollution readings and sources from different parts of the city) used for the “real-time source apportionment study”, under which data on Delhi’s air were collected and a model (software) created giving sources of air pollution by using air from the surroundings as input.
- The source apportionment study is being done by IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali at a cost of around ₹12 crore for the Delhi Pollution Control Committee. The Delhi Cabinet had approved the study in July 2021 and an MoU was signed in October that year.
- The real-time data could set at rest the frequent tussle between the Delhi and the Central governments over what causes pollution in the Capital and National Capital Region, especially in winter when it spikes.
- The Delhi government has been stating that stubble burning is the major cause of air pollution while the Centre had on several occasions cited local pollutants as the main reason.
- The data will help the government accurately identify the sources of air pollution and take actions to curb them more effectively.
- Until now, though different studies have been done to identify the sources of air pollution and give their percentages, none are on a real-time basis.
Reasons for Air Pollution in Delhi NCR region:
- Geographical reasons:
- Location of Delhi: It lies to the northeast of the Thar Desert, to the northwest of the central plains and to the southwest of the Himalayas. As winds arrive from the coasts, bringing with them pollutants picked up along the way, they get ‘trapped’ right before the Himalayas.
- Cold temperature during winter: During summer hotter air rises higher above the surface and takes the pollutants along with it. However, during October-November, the air is not that hot. The pollutants are trapped and tend to get concentrated at lower levels of the atmosphere, resulting in the smoke and haze situation.
- Lack of wind especially after the end of the monsoon: Average wind speed in winter in the Delhi NCR region is one-third of the summer months. This makes the pollutant concentration in the region.
- Dust Storm: -According to SAFAR, 40% of the particulate pollution in Delhi on those specific days could be sourced to a “multi-day dust storm” that originated in the Middle East.
Anthropogenic factors:- Vehicular and industrial emissions that get trapped in the winter fog: It is one of the biggest causes of dipping air quality in Delhi in winters and around 20% of PM2.5 in winters comes from it.
- Stubble burning: The root cause of stubble burning can be traced back to the 1960s-70s when India introduced several measures as part of its Green Revolution to feed its rising population.
- Fireworks in the run-up to Diwali: It may not be the top reason for air pollution, but it definitely contributed to its build-up.
- Construction Activities: Due to rising population leading to increased spread of Urbanisation, large-scale construction in Delhi-NCR is taking place. This is another culprit that is increasing dust and pollution in the air.
- Open Waste Burning: Delhi also has landfill sites for the dumping of waste and burning of waste in these sites also contributes to air pollution.
- High Population: Over-population adds up to the various types of pollution e.g. huge solid waste, water waste, construction activities emitting particulate pollution etc