No policy can be drafted to reduce pollution without data on its sources: AAP Minister Atishi

New Delhi [India]: Delhi Services Minister and AAP leader Atishi said the government cannot draft policies to reduce pollution because there is no official data available to show which sources contribute how much to pollution.

Service Minister Atishi said, “There is no official data available that can tell which source leads to what amount of pollution.

The problem is that no policy can be drafted to reduce this pollution when the government doesn’t know the amount of contribution from a particular pollution source.”

“To address the lack of data on pollution sources, the Delhi cabinet in July 2021 decided to conduct a real-time source apportionment study in Delhi. This is the first such study to be conducted in India, and perhaps in the world. IIT Kanpur is leading the study, in collaboration with TERI and IISER. The study is using world-class scientific equipment to measure pollution in central Delhi, and is also using advanced chemical and mathematical modeling in the designated sites.

The results of the study have so far revealed some interesting insights and have been presented to the government,” she added.

And an entire site was designed which is in central Delhi in which world class 13 get scientific equipment was kept which would measure the pollution and secondly, this study was designed with advanced chemical modeling along with advanced mathematical modelling. The results of this study have presented many interesting things to the government so far.

Earlier, Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Wednesday that there is a need for the Central government to sit with states and make a long-term plan to curb pollution in Northern India instead of laying the blame on Delhi.

Bharadwaj said “I believe that pollution is the problem of entire North India.

Sometimes pollution is more in Uttar Pradesh, sometimes a city of Haryana comes at number 1, and sometimes a city of Rajasthan goes at number 1 in the world. For this, all the states and the Centre will have to work together.”

He further said that it is petty politics to blame Delhi for the pollution as the Union Territory is very small in size compared to other neighbouring states.

As part of the various measures being adopted by the Delhi government to combat pollution under the GRAP-II stage, Delhi Metro Railway Corporation will be running 40 additional train trips on weekdays (Mon-Fri) across its network starting Wednesday to intensify the use of public transport among passengers across Delhi-NCR.

Accordingly, the Sub-Committee for Operationalization of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) met today to take stock of the air quality scenario of Delhi-NCR.

The statement further said that agencies responsible for implementing measures under GRAP including Pollution Control Boards (PCBs) of NCR States and DPCC have been addressed to ensure successful and strict implementation of actions under Stage-II of GRAP in addition to actions under Stage-I of GRAP during this period.

The sub-committee also urged citizens to adhere to the Citizen Charter under GRAP and assist in the effective implementation of the GRAP measures aimed towards sustaining and improving the air quality in the region.