New Delhi: To give further impetus to the city government's fight against pollution, all sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) have been directed to initiate an "anti-cracker" campaign in the city ahead of Diwali, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai announced on Friday as the Capital's air quality settled in the moderate category.
Rai said all 33 SDMs will also engage with RWAs, market associations and NGOs in their respective areas on October 28 and 29 to seek their participation in the fight against pollution and spread awareness about the government's efforts to reduce pollution. He said the Delhi government has banned crackers in the city but there are still complaints that they are being sold and purchased.
"Along with police, they (SDMs) will also be able to take action against sale and purchase of crackers. We will also meet with Delhi Police for this on October 25," Rai said. He said SDMs have been told not to trouble the general public and appealed to people to report any illegal marketing or usage of crackers on the Green Delhi App. Besides, SDMs have also been tasked with generating public participation in the fight against pollution by holding mass awareness campaigns and interacting with RWAs, Market associations and NGOs, he said.
"A specific template is to be followed which include discussion on pollution caused by burning of waste, dust, vehicular pollution, and the requirement of PUC certificates to keep their emissions in check," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Centre's air quality monitoring agency SAFAR put the AQI in the city at 162 with PM2.5 and PM10 as the lead pollutants. It has also predicted a likely improvement in the air quality in the next two days, saying the weather forecast showed strong winds and intermittent rainfall in the NCR. The number of farm fires also increased significantly with 1,288 such incidents recorded on Friday, according to data shared by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) — none of them in Delhi. However, SAFAR said the share of these pollutants in Delhi's air was 4 per cent as transport-level winds are not favourable for intrusion.
Real-time source apportionment
Moreover, the Delhi government's DPCC on Friday inked an MoU with IIT Kanpur for a study on implementing real-time source apportionment and forecasting for advance air pollution management in Delhi.
The project once implemented will allow weekly, monthly, and seasonal interpretation of air quality along with access to additional knowledge of PAHs, molecular markers, and secondary organic and inorganic aerosols.