With Delhi dropping out of the dubious list of ten most polluted cities of the world, the Delhi Government on Thursday said the latest air pollution data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates a “definitive positive trend” for the city.
The Government further added that increased awareness about pollutants, availability of pollution related data in public domain, concrete action to control emissions from
construction activities and control on industrial emissions were responsible for the reduction in air pollution measurements for Delhi during the last one year.
“The decline in air pollution levels in Delhi is a collective effort and the Government is committed to continue the war against air pollution with active cooperation of the residents of national Capital,” said the Government.
The city-wise WHO database for May 2016 showed Delhi ranked 24th on the basis of PM10 concentration, while on the basis of PM2.5,
rank of Delhi is 11th. In comparison, the 2014 ranking of Delhi was 8th and 1st, for PM10 and PM2.5 pollution levels respectively.
Meanwhile, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said Delhi has demonstrated that if cities take action to control pollution it will show results. But the city has a long way to go, it added.
“Strong public awareness, judicial and executive action has started to catalyse second phase of action in Delhi. This will have to be taken forward to meet clean air targets to protect public health. Delhi still has a long way to go,” said the CSE while reacting to the WHO report.
According to the analysis of WHO database by CSE, a 20 percent drop has been recorded in PM2.5 level since 2014, when the last database was published by the WHO.
“The beginning of the second phase of action in Delhi has stabilised the air pollution trends in Delhi. A much larger number of vehicles is meeting the Bharat Stage IV standards that were introduced for new vehicles in 2010. The Supreme Court directives have imposed environment compensation charge on entry of each truck into Delhi and restricted entry of pre-2006 trucks. This has halved the number of trucks that contribute about 30 per cent of the transport sector pollution,” it said.
The green body further added that the Rajghat coal-based power plant was shut down last year and the Badarpur plant is operating at 30 per cent of its capacity.
“There is also a greater push for enforcement on waste burning and construction dust. All of these have prevented pollution from getting worse. However, this should not breed complacency as the annual average levels are still double the standards and a lot more will have to be done to meet the clean air targets in Delhi,” it added.