Delhi bans construction sites, sprinkles water on roads to control air pollution

Delhi's Environment Minister said the government is spraying water on roads with the help of anti-smog water tanks to reduce the air pollution.

New Delhi: After the air pollution levek in the national capital rose to 'Hazardous' levels amid reports of stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, the Delhi government took jumped into action to control the rising pollution levels. As a part of the measures undertaken, the Delhi government on Saturday deployed 114 water tankers to sprinkle water on roads to settle dust, one of major contributors to air pollution. 

Rai said the government has started spraying water on roads with the help of anti-smog water tanks to reduce the air pollution as an emergency measure.

Also, the Delhi government banned 92 construction sites for violating norms. “We have banned 92 construction sites for violating norms,” Delhi Minister Gopal Rai said.

The Environment Minister said the Delhi government is running a campaign to check the local source of air pollution in the city — be it dust, vehicle or biomass pollution. 

On Saturday morning, Anand Vihar and Faridabad recorded an AQI above 600, and places like India Gate, Mandir Marg, Sriniwaspuri still have an AQI of 400. The Delhi Pollution Control Committee said in a report that the fireworks after 8 PM led to major changes in PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations in Delhi on the Diwali night. 

“The sudden deterioration in Delhi’s air quality this year can be attributed to extremely calm conditions, change in wind direction and low ventilation coefficient, and use of firecrackers, according to the DPCC’s Diwali day air pollution analysis,” the DPCC said in the report.

A thick layer of smog hung over the air at Delhi-NCR on Friday after residents flouted the firecracker ban and emissions from stubble burning peaked at 36 per cent, pushing the capital air quality index to 462, the highest single-day average in five years.

The neighbouring cities of Noida (475), Faridabad (469), Greater Noida (464), Ghaziabad (470), Gurgaon (472) also recorded ‘severe’ air pollution levels.