Study begins on real-time sources of air pollution in Delhi

The study involves a supersite, where equipment has been set up to monitor parameters like particulate matter and other gaseous pollutants, determine sources of pollutants in real time, and generate forecasts on hourly, daily, and weekly basis.

According to a communication from the Chief Minister’s office, the team from IIT Kanpur informed officials at the meeting that “the secondary inorganic aerosols which travel long distances contribute to a large proportion of the air pollution mix”. They identified biomass burning of wood and stubble, vehicular emissions and construction and road dust as other major sources of PM2.5 over the past month.

Kejriwal has directed the Environment Department and the DPCC to take action to identify the sources and locations of pollution based on the information that the study generates. The project was approved by the cabinet last year and an MoU was signed by the Delhi government with IIT Kanpur. Part of the project is a mobile laboratory which will collect data on pollution levels to determine their sources in different parts of the city.