To breathe again...

New Delhi: The Delhi Pollution Control Committee in collaboration with a leading environment think-tank will undertake a pilot study to monitor the pollution level of Delhi-NCR dynamically and identify specific pollutants to take action in case of sudden spike of pollution, officials said Wednesday.

The study on Ambient Air Source Apportionment in Delhi-NCR will use equipment provided by Japanese instrumentation company Horiba that can do real-time monitoring of the pollution level in the national capital, informed Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General of Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

"The three-month-long study will capture baseline data at various locations of Delhi NCR. It has been planned as an independent study, using XRF and Beta ray attenuation technologies," he said. He added, "Static monitoring of pollution would not work. We need dynamic monitoring to take action as soon as possible."

Mohan P George, Head – DPCC's Air Quality Division, said there is a gap in understanding the sudden spike in pollution levels and this study will help in improving their understanding of it. "We hope with improved understanding it would be possible to implement Graded Response Action Plan more effectively," George said.

Anumita Roychowdhury, Head – Air Pollution and Clean Transportation Programme at CSE said, "We would be installing the equipment at various sites like traffic signals, landfill sites, industrial areas and even residential areas to identify specific sources of pollution."