Vehicles contributed half of PM 2.5 pollution from local sources in Delhi around Diwali

Vehicles contributed half of PM 2.5 pollution from local sources in Delhi around Diwali
ET Online
Rate Story
Share
Font Size
Save
Comment
Synopsis

The report said that when pollution concentrations from all sources -- local, NCR and beyond -- are added, Delhi's vehicles account for nearly 17 per cent of total PM2.5 concentration. But, according to CSE's indicative data, vehicles' daily share of pollution varied between 49.3 per cent and 53 per cent during the week of Diwali.

The organisation said that despite vehicles becoming the "top polluter", action on transport remains "the weakest".
During Diwali week (October 21-26) over half of PM 2.5 pollution from local sources in Delhi is contributed by vehicular emission, said the latest assessment by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

The report said that when pollution concentrations from all sources -- local, NCR and beyond -- are added, Delhi's vehicles account for nearly 17 per cent of total PM2.5 concentration. But, according to CSE's indicative data, vehicles' daily share of pollution varied between 49.3 per cent and 53 per cent during the week of Diwali.

Principal programme manager at CSE's Clean Air and Sustainable Mobility unit Vivek Chattopadhyay said, "The vehicular contribution was followed by household pollution (residential) at 13 per cent, industries at 11 per cent, construction at 7 per cent, waste burning and the energy sector at 5 per cent each, and road dust and other sources at 4 per cent each. This observation is consistent with the trends evaluated during the previous winter in Delhi."

All combustion sources have a higher share than dust sources that include construction and road dust, said the CSE report. Combustion sources include vehicles, peripheral industries, the energy sector, waste burning and residential cooking.

The report has used the decision support system (DSS) of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology(IITM), which has provided the information on potential emission sources in Delhi.

"With high traffic on pre-Diwali days, average speed plummeted to 27 km per hour against the design standard of 60 km per hour or regulated speed of 40 km per hour. On some stretches this reduced to 17 km per hour. Nitrogen dioxide coming largely from vehicles correlates well with traffic peaks and congestion though dispersion helped to dilute it in the afternoons," the CSE assessment stated.

The organisation pointed that despite vehicles becoming the "top polluter", action on transport remains "the weakest".

With inputs from PTI

Read More News on

(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.)

Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

...more

ETPrime stories of the day

6 mins read
5 mins read
4 mins read