New Delhi: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in collaboration with a leading environment think-tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), will undertake a pilot study to monitor the pollution level of Delhi-NCR dynamically and identify specific pollutants to take action in case of a sudden spike of pollution, officials said Wednesday. The study on ‘Ambient Air Source Apportionment’ in Delhi-NCR will use 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 CSE.
The objective of this study is to identify the various sources of pollution and carry out source speciation in select hotspots that are vulnerable to high pollution in Delhi-NCR. Mr. Bhushan said,
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 (X-ray fluorescence) and Beta ray attenuation technologies.
Mr. Bhushan added,
Once we have established the signatures for various sources of pollution, the real-time elemental analysis will help us identify the source of pollution in an area, which will then help regulators in taking corrective action quickly.
He further 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 understanding the sudden spike in pollution level and this study will help in improving that. He said,
We hope with an improved understanding it would be possible to implement Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) more effectively.
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. She said,
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 Roychowdhury, head of the 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.
The monitoring for the study will begin from January 28 and continue till April 28. In these three months, the study will monitor 10-12 specific locations in Delhi-NCR. The technology used for monitoring PM2.5 is Beta-Ray Attenuation and the elemental analysis would be done using X-Ray Fluorescence technology. The instrument for the study will be co-located with the DPCC’s continuous air pollution monitoring stations.
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