Delhi Govt Officials Discuss Measures To Control Air Pollution In Winter Months

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and adjoining areas held a review meeting with the Chief Secretary of Delhi, Chairperson of NDMC, Principal Secretary of Environment, Commissioner of MCD, Commissioner of Transport, and other senior officers of the Government of NCT of Delhi on September 26, 2023, to discuss measures to control air pollution during the winter months.

Notably, the winter months are a critical time for air pollution in Delhi, as the city experiences a significant increase in PM levels due to a combination of climatic conditions and anthropogenic factors. 

The measures taken by the government and CAQM are expected to help reduce air pollution and improve air quality in the city during the winter months.

CAQM has already published the revised Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in July 2023, which outlines preventive and restrictive actions to be taken across various air pollution-causing sectors depending on the severity of air quality in Delhi.

The GRAP envisages 27 actions under Stage I, 11 under Stage II, 8 under Stage III, and 8 under Stage IV. These actions include intensifying mechanised sweeping, using anti-smog guns, sprinkling water on roads, enforcing PUC norms for vehicles, controlling and regulating the use of DG sets, ensuring uninterrupted power supply by DISCOMs, restricting the plying of end-of-life vehicles and BS III and BS IV petrol and diesel vehicles, and more.

The government of NCT of Delhi has 7,041 buses, including 4,088 DTC buses and 2,953 cluster buses, of which 456 are e-buses and 94 are mini electric buses. The government plans to augment public transport by adding 850 buses by September 2023 and 650 buses by March 2024. As of September 23, 2023, 943 PUC certification stations are operational in Delhi, and 33.56 lakh PUC certificates have been issued.

Delhi has more than 2.38 lakh EVs registered as of September 22, 2023. Delhi currently has 3,100 charging stations, 4,793 charging points and 318 swapping stations. The target is to set up 18,000 public and 30,000 private/semi-public charging stations by 2025.

The GRAP also provides 10, 05, and 06 expected actionable points from citizens as part of the Citizen Charter during stages I, II, and III respectively to contribute towards air pollution control measures. The Government of NCT of Delhi has been advised to give wider publicity to GRAP and the Citizen Charter.

As part of dust control measures, Delhi has 83 mechanical road sweeping (MRS) machines for mechanised sweeping. The average road length mechanically swept per day is about 2,700 km. About 125 metric tonnes of road dust is being collected and disposed of per day. 320 water sprinklers are also being deployed in Delhi, covering an average of 2,600 km of road per day. CAQM has advised the government to augment the capacity and intensification of the use of mechanised road sweeping and sprinkling of water.

CAQM has also advised the Government of NCT of Delhi to take steps to reduce air pollution from other sources, such as industrial emissions, construction activities and waste burning.