Rather than curing air pollution, Delhi focuses on preventing it
A pollution prediction model will soon be installed in Delhi, the kind which has already been installed by SAFAR across the country and the one present in Beijing, a government official said. The project was a part of this year's budget, Delhi Government's first 'Green Budget'. The model, which will predict air quality for upto 72 hours, is expected to be functional by October'18.
World Bank experts helping DPCC in this project
"When pollution peaks now, we do not want to be on reactive mode and do firefighting when we can preempt situations and take preventive actions," a government official said. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) and the World Bank experts are working together on this, which will also be following the SC mandate of Graded Response Action Plan for tackling Delhi's air pollution.
All DPCC pollution monitoring locations to be covered
Since all 24 pollution monitoring locations will be covered in this Rs. 2 crore project, the air quality prediction will be minutely detailed. Delhi's struggle with air pollution hit a peak during Diwali last year. The air quality was so poor that a public health emergency was issued. "If there was a pollution prediction system, we would have been better prepared," the official said.
University of Washington may study Delhi's deadly air pollution
Apart from this, the government will also conduct a study with the University of Washington to find out the sources of air pollution, a project that was included in the budget. Earlier, sources said that it will most likely be implemented in the forthcoming financial year, adding that the system used to carry out the study will be retained.
