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Delhi's dust pollution back to Commonwealth Games days
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| NYOOOZ , Monday, July 31, 2017 |
| Correspondent
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| Bad old days are back in Delhi. Dust pollution, the cause of many pulmonary diseases, hit the peak again in 2016, after a lull of five years, in the capital. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), dust pollution, which includes various particulate matter like PM 10, PM 2.5 and PM 1.0, shot up to 261 micrograms per metre cube again last year. Such levels were last found in 2010, during the Commonwealth Games. “Thereafter, over the next five years (till 2015), it (dust pollution) remained almost in the same range,” said D Saha, head of the air quality laboratory of CPCB. The alarm bell was set off last year when the World Health Organisation placed the city on the top of a list of the dustiest megacities in the world. While Cairo and Dhaka notched the second and third positions, Kolkata and Mumbai were placed fourth and fifth. Now, the latest CPCB data also suggests that the rate of increase in dust pollution is higher compared to that of other pollutants such as SO2 and NO2. Read more: Govt to fix rules for disposing of road dust to curb air pollution in Delhi Experts said the level of particulate matter in the air rises primarily because of construction activities, road dust and waste burning. Saha noted that in 2010, the levels had hit 261 micrograms per metre cube from 153 micrograms per metre cube in 2006. Vivek Chattopadhyay, senior program manager (air pollution control wing) of Centre for Science and Environment, attributed this rise to the construction activities during the Commonwealth Games. He rued the lack of a regular study to ascertain why this dust pollution is shooting up or plummeting every year. Jump in construction & vehicles Scientists have attributed several reasons behind the jump, including unbridled construction activities, increase in number of vehicles and poor soil management, besides factors such as burning of waste. “In 2005, around 600 building plans were sanctioned,” said a senior North Delhi Municipal Corporation official, requesting anonymity. “In 2016, the three civic bodies together sanctioned around 3,600 plans,” he said, asking, “Now add to this the illegal constructions.” Read more: Art of Living did not harm Yamuna: Delhi, UP govt contradict scientific report Other construction activities such as roads, their widening, flyovers, Metro, have also increased over the years, along with the number of vehicles, aggravating the dust pollution in the city. The Economic Survey of Delhi 2015-16 reveals that number of vehicles per 1,000 people has shot up from 317 in 2005-06 to around 530 in 2015-16. The road network has increased from 32,131 km in 2007-08 to 33,868 km in 2015-16.
Nearly 62 km of flyovers have been added between 2014 and 2016. Thin on green Experts claimed that even though the green cover of Delhi has increased from 20.08% in 2013 to 20.22% in 2015, the rise has been specific in south Delhi and Lutyens’ Delhi area. Most parts of Delhi don’t have even an iota of green cover. This barren soil bereft of any grass cover becomes a major source of dust pollution. “Soil texture is governed by small and micro organisms that live in the soil.
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https://www.nyoooz.com/news/delhi/882674/delhis-dust-pollution-back-to-commonwealth-games-days/ |
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