NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Monday held a roundtable conference to discuss the findings of a real-time source apportionment study on air pollution and develop a strategy to further improve air quality in the city and the National Capital Region (NCR).
The government has ordered to install mobile at 13 air pollution hotspots in the city for a week to find out the real sources of pollution. Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the government has taken strict steps to reduce air pollution in the national capital.
Real-time source apportionment (RTSA) studies help identify factors responsible for an increase in air pollution at any spot, such as vehicles, dust, biomass burning, and emissions from industries, so that preventive measures can be taken accordingly.
The “Save Environment Roundtable Conference” took place at the Delhi Secretariat and was attended by representatives from Commission for Air Quality Management, Central Pollution Control Board, SAFAR, United Nations Environment Programme, India Meteorological Department, World Bank, Centre for Science and Environment, and NCR states.
“We shared the data collected during the source apportionment study over the past six months with the participants, sought their suggestions and prepared a strategy to further reduce air pollution in Delhi-NCR,” Rai said.The ultimate goal is to devise policies at local and regional levels to enhance the air quality in Delhi, he said.
“Thanks to the RTSA study, air quality can now be assessed and analysed on a daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal basis, enabling the government to promptly address sudden increases in pollution levels. The monitoring of pollutants such as PM2.5, NO2, NOx, CO, SO2, ozone, secondary inorganic and organic aerosols has become more streamlined and precise,” the minister said.
