This story is from November 9, 2018

Delhi gets new pollution hotspots on Diwali day

Delhi gets new pollution hotspots on Diwali day
NEW DELHI: The Diwali night introduced new names on the pollution hotspot map of Delhi when areas like Jahangirpuri, Ashok Vihar, Nehru Nagar and Wazirpur matched the ‘apocalyptic’ levels of the well-known trouble spots like Anand Vihar, Punjabi Bagh and RK Puram on Wednesday.
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According to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), these stations saw the highest readings with values of PM10 exceeding 1,000 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m3).

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“The average PM10 reading in Jahangirpuri was 1,000µg/m3, Ashok Vihar 1,494, Nehru Nagar 1,099, Wazirpur 1,090, Anand Vihar 1,272, Punjabi Bagh 1,124, and RK Puram 1,077. In terms of finer PM2.5, Wazirpur recorded an average of 1,145µg/m3, Ashok Vihar 1,252, Nehru Nagar 851 and Jahangirpuri 718,” a Delhi government official said, adding that local factors, along with Diwali night firecrackers, have contributed to this spike. With a wider network of monitoring stations, “we have come across these new pollution hotspots and will plan actions accordingly”, he said.

TOI kept an eye on the real-time data of DPCC stations on Wednesday night. Jahangirpuri had one of the highest PM10 reading at 4,499µg/m3, according to the DPCC real-time monitoring at 11pm. Wazirpur, at 1am, saw PM2.5 touching an astronomic high of 4,659µg/m3, which is the highest across all DPCC stations this Diwali.
The permissible limit of PM10 and PM2.5 are 100µg/m3 and 60µg/m3, respectively.
“Sonia Vihar, Patparganj, Vivek Vihar, Major Dhyanchand and Jawaharlal Nehru stadiums, Dwarka, Mundka, Rohini, Okhla, Bawana and IGI Airport were areas where PM10 stayed below 1,000µg/m3,” said a DPCC official. The comparatively cleaner corners were Najafgarh, Alipur, Narela, Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, Shri Aurobindo Marg, Pusa, Civil Lines and Mandir Marg, he added. With PM2.5 at 143µg/m3, Najafgarh was the cleanest spot in the city.
Most of these hotspots are in heavily populated areas and the pollution levels increased, experts said, because of the firecrackers. The less polluted areas are sparsely populated and see comparatively less vehicular traffic.
DPCC, with its wider network of 26 stations, now covers micro-environment zones, including industrial, commercial and residential areas and even sensitive areas like hospitals, and provides a realistic picture of the city’s air quality.
“The level of pollutants showed an increase on the Diwali day. The major changes observed after 8pm when the fireworks started. The cumulative effect of existing pollution load and pollutants released due to fireworks as well as meteorological conditions like calm condition with significant humidity attributed to the present situation,” he said. According to SAFAR, the contribution of PM2.5 in PM10 has increased from 50% (normal) to 70% on Diwali, indicating an increased share of locally-generated pyrotechnic emissions.
This year, a fairly ‘green’ area, Dwarka, has often recorded higher levels of pollution than Anand Vihar, mainly due to open burning of waste. This even prompted Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) to inspect the locality. Other two most polluted spots are Mathura Road in south Delhi and Dhirpur in north Delhi.
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