New Delhi: Amid the debate around the highly polluted Delhi air, the government is waiting for a study it had commissioned IIT Kanpur to conduct in 2013. The project, titled, “Source Apportionment Study of PM2.5 and PM10”, when finished will lay the foundation for a draft on policy regarding air pollution.
A report published in Indian Express quoted a senior Delhi government official saying that the study was commissioned in April 2013 in order to obtain data required to formulate a policy to control and reduce air pollution and initiate a second-generation air action plan. The study was expected to be completed within 18 months but the environment department is hoping it to be completed in the next few months.
The study will focus on what has caused the rise of pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, suspended particulated matter and nitrous oxides. It will also study how industries, vehicles, burning of waste and leaves and construction dust contribute in increasing the air pollution.
Source apportionment studies are based on measurements and tracking down of the sources of pollution through receptor modeling which helps in identifying the exact source of pollution and the extent of its contribution, said a senior official of Central Pollution Control Board.
The last such study was done by Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) in 2010 which had noted “management of air polluting sources will be limited if they are not only aligned with nearby urban centres (which includes area, point and vehicular sources) and with neighbouring states and with the country as a whole.”
Environment department of Delhi government admits that combating air pollution is quite difficult in absence of a clear policy framework.
