New Delhi: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) in its report has informed the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that the ineffectiveness of the smog tower has been communicated to the Government of NCT of Delhi, but no concrete decision on the matter was taken. According to the DPCC, the report submitted by IIT-Bombay has been examined and based on DPCC’s own assessment, air quality monitored by real-time ambient air quality stations located nearby to the two installed Smog Towers in Delhi ie. at Anand Vihar and Connaught Place, have revealed that the smog towers have not been effective in curbing the air pollution.
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As per the report, in case a 17 per cent reduction in a 100 m radius is to be considered favourable, Delhi needs more than 40,000 such towers to cover its geographic area.
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee stated,
This cannot be a practical solution and the result of the experiment should be accepted the Smog Tower already erected may be used for dissemination of the technical information about the control of air pollution as a museum.
The DPCC further stated that it has been found that the efficacy of the Smog Vower has not impacted the air quality. The DPCC stated,
Atmospheric air pollution does not have any boundaries. The air shed of Delhi is not limited to the boundaries of Delhi State. Delhi is surrounded by the states of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Delhi has an area of 1,483 sq. km. Its maximum length is 51.90 km and its greatest width is 48.48 km. 10 to 17 per cent reduction in a 100 m radius ie 0.0314 Sa km per tower that too at the capital cost of rupees 25 crores with a recurring cost of 10 to 15 lakh per month per Smog Tower is not at all justified. It is not even a drop in an ocean.
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The National Green Tribunal on Friday pulled up various states where the Air Quality Index (AQI) has dipped to severe, very poor and poor categories and said the action taken reports filed by them do not disclose what action has been taken for improvement of air quality.
NGT said,
We expected some improvement after the first order but we didn’t find any.
The Tribunal earlier issued notice to Chief Secretaries of various states including Delhi and directed them to take immediate remedial action and submit the action taken report before the Tribunal, including Delhi.
During the hearing, the Tribunal said that some improvement was anticipated after the first order but it didn’t find any. Most of the details in the action taken report are only up to October when the situation was not so bad.
On the last date of the hearing, the Tribunal observed that immediate action was required.
During the hearing, the Tribunal noted,
Serious conditions are reflected in various cities in the air quality bulletins. Hence, immediate action is required for the prevention and control of air pollution in these cities so as to ensure better air quality for the residents.
Noting the seriousness of the issue, NGT has impleaded the Chief Secretaries of the concerned States, Chairman, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), Member Secretary, CPCB, and National Task Force through its head secretary, MoEF&CC, as parties in the case and sought their responses and directed them to take remedial action and submit an action taken report reflecting compliance of directions issued by the Tribunal from time to time in this regard.
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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which in its Season 10 is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Ayushmann Khurrana. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In a world post COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental well-being, self-care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
