Odd-even phase II: Monitoring begins early, spotlight on NCR too in this round

The Indian Express , Monday, April 04, 2016
Correspondent : Pritha Chatterjee
The odd-even scheme and monitoring of air pollution levels found mention in the budget presented by finance minister Manish Sisodia last week. Stating that the government was “concerned”about environmental pollution in the capital, Sisodia said three more monitoring stations would be set up.

As of now, real time air quality is monitored from six permanent stations under DPCC — AnandVihar, Mandir Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Civil Lines, RK Puram, and IGI airport.

While the finer details of air quality monitoring during the second phase of the odd-even scheme are expected to be announced on April 6, environment department officials have proposed a detailed outlay to monitor its impact. Officials said an effort had been made to correct the problems faced in monitoring during the first phase. “Last time, there was an emphasis on the number of locations we cover, so we could get data that is representative of the city. Now, we will monitor fewer areas multiple times to get a picture of how pollution data varies as the odd-even scheme progresses,” says an official.

This time, officials say the monitoring will focus on heavy traffic routes instead of neighbourhoods. The outer ring road, Connaught Place, ITO, and Vikas Marg have been included in initial suggestions, say officials. Sources say the final list of routes to be monitored will be announced by April 6. “The idea is to get data from the roads where vehicles will be going off the roads, to see whether the odd-even scheme has any impact on air quality, and if so on which pollutants,” says an official.

According to officials, monitoring is expected to begin around a week before the odd-even scheme commences from April 15, and will continue for a week after it ends. “Last time, we did not have comparative data from mobile units from before and after the scheme, to compare the results of the actual period of the scheme,” says an official. Sources said monitoring of air quality will include a wider pollutant profile including gaseous pollutants, particularly ozone. “Last time we primarily assessed particulates… We will continue to track this, but experts have said we should also be looking at pollutants like ozone, which are a problem in the summer months, and where exhaust from vehicles has a role,” says the official. Sources say this was suggested because particulate levels may not be very high in April to begin with due to weather factors. Officials said at least six spots are also being considered for air quality monitoring by mobile units in NCR region, including Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad. “Based on data collected in the first phase of the scheme, it looks like border areas close to NCR regions, continued to report high particulate matter levels. This time we want to collect data from NCR to see how particulate matter levels fare here compared to Delhi,” says an official. Sources say Kaushambi in Ghaziabad is likely to be one of the sites. Sources said NCR monitoring was suggested by experts as a measure to factor in the impact of weather conditions. “Last time, a lot of reduction in particulate matter was attributed to weather by expert bodies, rather than the actual scheme. If we monitor AnandVihar in Delhi and Kaushambi in Ghaziabad for example, we will be able to gauge the role of weather factors, because the weather will be the same in both areas, but the vehicle restriction due to the odd-even scheme will only be in place in AnandVihar,” says an official. Sources say the locations of the additional three monitoring stations are still under deliberation. “It is not possible to have these centres up before April 15, but depending on the results from this phase of the scheme, we will identify areas where the stations are required,” says an official. As per initial estimates, at least two of these three proposed stations would be set up in outer Delhi, adds the official. “Right now all the centres are giving us data about the centre of the city. Areas like North East, South West and North West Delhi, which are affected by pollution in NCR regions is not being studied by the government in Delhi,” said the official. Taking off from the mobile monitoring machine used for the first time during the first leg of the odd-even scheme, the government announced in this budget that a mobile van would be roped in permanently, in the current financial year. “As opposed to ambient air quality, a mobile van gives us a composite picture of the real-time quality of air that is being inhaled in different locations. The ambient stations are usually located at a distance from residential areas and are fixed, so they give an overall representative picture of the quality of air,” explains an official. The mobile air quality machine, hired from a private firm, used in January during the odd-even scheme collected data from over 200 locations. Stating that the problem of traffic congestion and air pollution was “continuously growing” in the NCT of Delhi, Sisodia in his budget speech made it clear that the odd-even scheme started on a pilot basis in January would continue. Incidentally, its next leg comes just two weeks after the launch of a measure to contain the dust on roads.

 
SOURCE : http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/odd-even-phase-ii-monitoring-begins-early-spotlight-on-ncr-too-in-this-round/
 


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