×

Dynamic monitoring undertaken to identify specific pollutants in Delhi

Delhi Pollution Control Committee to take action in case of sudden spike of pollution

The Delhi Pollution Control Committee in collaboration with a leading environment think-tank will undertake a pilot study to monitor the pollution level of Delhi-NCR dynamically and identify specific pollutants to take action in case of sudden spike of pollution, officials said Wednesday.

The study on Ambient Air Source Apportionment in Delhi-NCR will use an equipment provided by Japanese instrumentation company Horiba that can do real-time monitoring of the pollution level in the national capital, said Chandra Bhushan, the Deputy Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

"The three-month-long study will capture baseline data at various locations of Delhi NCR. It has been planned as an independent study, using XRF and Beta ray attenuation technologies," he said.

He added, "Static monitoring of pollution would not work. We need dynamic monitoring to take action as soon as possible."

Mohan P George, head of DPCC's air quality division, said there is a gap in u  and this study will help in improving our understanding of that.

"We hope with improved understanding it would be possible to implement Graded Response Action Plan more effectively," George said.

The exercise would be of elemental study to analyse inorganic elements and based on the spike of these elements, the source of pollution could be identified.

"Right now, we shut down everything when pollution reaches severe but through this study we hope to identify specific sources so selective action could be taken up," said Anumita Anumita Roychowdhury, head of air pollution and clean transportation programme at CSE, said.

"We would be installing the equipment at various sites like traffic signals, landfill sites, industrial areas and even residential areas to identify specific sources of pollution," she said.