Vehicles contribute 50% to air pollution in New Delhi: Study
New Delhi: A study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has revealed that vehicular emissions contribute to half of the air pollution in the national capital.
The CSE analyzed real-time data on the contribution of different pollutants as provided by the Decision Support System (DSS) for Air Quality Management of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, from October 27 to November 6, 2021.
“The real-time share of vehicular emissions increased to over 50 percent during the early phase of winter, followed by household pollution (12.5-13.5 percent), industry (9.9-13.7 percent), construction activity (6.7-7.9 percent), waste burning (4.6-4.9 percent), and road dust (3.6-4.1 percent), respectively,” it said.
“The overall contribution of Delhi’s sources increases during evening hours and lasts until early morning hours (7.30 pm to 9.30 am). The long-range transport wind brought more pollution because of biomass burning from the neighboring states that remained low in the initial pre-Diwali phase but peaked post-Diwali,” the study added.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) under the Ministry of Earth Sciences reported a very poor air quality of New Delhi with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 390 as of Friday.
The report suggests that New Delhi and the NCR urgently scale up integrated public transport systems, walking and cycling infrastructure, parking area management plans, and low emissions zones to restrain vehicle use and meet the target of 25 percent electric vehicles by 2024.
The DSS of the IITM is part of the ‘Air Quality Early Warning System’ that requires an online chemistry transport model, emissions inventory for Delhi and the NCR, and data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to provide information regarding pollutants and sources contributing to emissions.
It also indicates the effects of emission interventions on the air quality of the national capital.
(Avya Mathur)
