The Delhi government plans to monitor the ambient air quality in the Capital to understand the impact of the odd-even plan, which is set to return between April 15 and 30.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will monitor the ambient air quality with special reference to PM 2.5 and PM 10 at 119 locations in and around the Capital. This will include random sampling for short durations and will target identifying the trend of air quality. Air quality will be monitored at 74 locations along the Delhi border with the help of light scattering-based technology. These locations will be monitored regularly, except on Sundays.
Since this will include locations based in the NCR, Transport Minister Gopal Rai has written to his counterparts in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and the Governor of Uttarakhand., seeking cooperation.
Mr. Rai also said that mobile monitoring would be conducted simultaneously on a rotational basis in 20 residential locations. This will be done using manual samplers twice between April 6 and 14 April, and twice during the odd-even policy. As many as 15 industrial areas will also be monitored.
“To better assess the air quality, mapping of pollution will be conducted in a parallel manner. For instance, at border areas it will be mapped at points located two kilometres before and beyond the border, in addition to the said location,” Mr. Rai said. While one sample will be taken inside Delhi (1-2 km), the second sample will be taken on the border and the third sample from 1-2 kms inside the neighbouring States.
