Delhi is implementing a comprehensive strategy to tackle air pollution with a focus on reducing dust pollution and emissions from transport and firecrackers, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) said on Wednesday.
Delhi currently boasts a fleet of 7,041 buses, including 4,088 Delhi Transport Corporation buses and 2,953 cluster buses. These include 456 e-buses and 94 mini-electric buses.
To bolster public transport and reduce individual vehicle emissions, the city plans to add 850 more buses by September 2023 and an additional 650 by March 2024, the Centre's air quality panel said.
As of September 23, Delhi has 943 operational Pollution Under Control certification stations and a staggering 33.56 lakh PUC certificates have been issued.
In a bid to promote eco-friendly mobility, Delhi has seen a surge in the registration of electric vehicles with more than 2.38 lakh EVs registered as of September 22, the CAQM said in a statement.
The city currently has 3,100 charging stations, 4,793 charging points, and 318 swapping stations. Plans are in place to establish a total of 18,000 public and 30,000 private or semi-public charging stations by 2025, it said.
Efforts to control dust pollution include the deployment of 83 mechanical road-sweeping (MRS) machines that collectively sweep approximately 2,700 km of roads daily.
Also, 320 water sprinklers are used daily, covering an average of 2,600 km of roads. Plans are underway to expand the capacity and intensify the use of mechanised road sweeping and water sprinkling, the CAQM said.
It said Delhi has positioned 389 anti-smog guns (ASGs) to control dust around buildings, roads, and open areas with more than 90 high-rise buildings identified for ASG installation.
Both government and private high-rise structures are included in this initiative.
Multiple government departments have been tasked with identifying additional high-rise buildings for ASG deployment.
The Delhi government has emphasised the strict enforcement of government and court orders regarding the storage, sale, and use of firecrackers. This is especially important this year as several festivals coincide with the peak paddy harvesting season in northern India.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi is gearing up to build one of India's most advanced e-waste processing facilities, and it's taking cues from Norway's cutting-edge model.
The national capital on Sunday recorded a maximum temperature of 33.6 degrees Celsius, 7.8 notches below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Air Quality Management Commission admitted it has not conducted any research or study on pollution caused by diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years, which form the basis of the overage vehicle ban in Delhi-NCR.
Monsoon Diseases Prevention: Monsoon brings welcome relief but also triggers respiratory health issues like cold, flu, asthma and pneumonia, due to high humidity, mould, dust, air pollution and viral outbreaks.
The Supreme Court has upheld the powers of the pollution control boards to impose restitutionary and compensatory damages for environmental harm, saying that prevention and remediation must be at the heart of environmental governance.
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