Kailash Gahlot inspects Dwarka hotspot, directs DPCC for special drive

Kailash Gahlot, the environment minister in Delhi, after inspecting the Dwarka sub-city on Friday directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) to take efforts to keep a check on the prevailing air quality and take measures towards it. According to a government statement, Gahlot directed the DPCC to "undertake a special drive to identify the dusty road stretches and initiate prosecution against those agencies responsible for it". Dwarka is a designated hotspot by the DPCC. According to reports, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has been directed to do a mechanical sweeping as well as water sprinkling in Dwarka area. The statement further read, "Local area SDM was also instructed to visit the area and find out locations where construction and demolition waste and garbage are dumped to ensure deterrent fines on land-owning agencies."   

Other checks

According to reports, Kailash Gahlot also visited sector 8, 12, 14 and other nearby places in Delhi. Further, he visited the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) of DPCC at the Indian Institute of Malaria Research. According to Gahlot, Delhi has a world-class air quality monitoring setup that helps in finding out the air quality in real-time. According to the officials of the CAAQMS, the monitoring of PM 2.5 and PM 10 is measured by beta alteration technique at hourly bases that includes measurement of other gases such as Sulphur dioxide, Nitrogen oxide, Carbon dioxide, Ammonia, Benzene and ozone.
According to them, the CAAQMS is the state of art facility and follows the Standard Operating Procedures approved by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the instruments and analysers are United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) approved. 

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Hotspots in Delhi

According to a news report, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has identified 13 hotspots in the national capital. The hotspots list names-Okhla Phase-2, Narela, Bawana, Mundka, Punjabi Bagh, Dwarka, Wazirpur, Rohini, Anand Vihar, RK Puram, Jahangirpuri, Vivek Vihar and Ashok Vihar. Six other have been identified in NCR — Faridabad Phase-1 and 2, Udyog Vihar, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwadi and Sahibabad.

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Delhi's air quality worsens

Reports stated that Delhi's air quality has worsened over time. According to the government-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) on Friday, October 18, overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital with Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 was detected at 375. The AQI falls in the 'very poor' category. 

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(With ANI inputs)