Delhi Government To Study Reduction In Air Pollution Due To Anti-Smog Guns, Water Sprinklers

The Delhi government will conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of the measures taken to curb air pollution in the winter season such as the use of water sprinklers, anti-smog guns and road sweeping machines, officials said.

The government spends a lot of money on these interventions. It is necessary to ascertain the reduction in pollution levels due to the steps taken, an official of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) said on Monday.

The government will request proposals from agencies to establish a network of low-cost sensors in the areas and the routes where water sprinklers, anti-smog guns and sweeping machines are deployed.

"It will help us rewire these local measures in the next season. It will enable more judicious use of the resources we have," the official said. However, the data provided by these low-cost sensors will not be used for overall air quality monitoring.  The request for proposals will be floated by the end of the month, the official said.

Low-cost air quality sensors are designed for small-scale monitoring programmes. These can be used for monitoring the air quality in the immediate surroundings, but may not be representative of larger geographic areas.

According to an RTI reply, the 82-feet smog tower at Anand Vihar reduced PM2.5 pollution by up to just 17 percent in a radius of 100 metres in the 2021-22 winter season.

Last year, the Delhi government mapped point sources and took site-specific measures at Anand Vihar, one of the 13 air pollution hotspots in Delhi. It had led to a 20 percent decrease in particulate pollution there in November and December. It was a first-of-its-kind project in Delhi and will now be replicated in all the 13 hotspots this year, an environment department official said.