May 7, 2023, Sunday

12 noon – 1 pm

• Air pollution has been viewed very seriously by all courts including the Hon’ble Supreme Court, High Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and various directions have been issued from time to time.
• The Central and state governments and pollution control boards have also issued directions from time to time to different implementing agencies for taking steps to curb air pollution.
• Despite this, the situation is very bad especially in the winter months in the Indo-Gangetic plain.
• However, pollution also increases during the summer because of dust.
• The sources of pollution in the winter months are different from those in the summer months.
• As per The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) study, the average concentration of PM10 in summer in Delhi-NCR was 188 µg/mm3 and PM2.5 was 90 µg/mm3. In winter, the PM10 was 314 and PM2.5 was 168.
• Various state governments have formulated different action plants for both summer and winter. The plans cannot be the same as sources and contributions are different.
• The focus during winters in the Indo Gangetic plain/Delhi-NCR was on prevention of waste burning, stubble burning, fire crackers and control of industrial pollution, vehicular pollution.
• During summer, the focus is towards dust pollution. 
• Delhi had announced the summer action plan with focus on dust pollution, solid waste management, mechanical sweeping of roads, open burning.
• Summer air flow is different from the winter air flow, which affects transboundary pollution.
• Guidelines are needed for road construction.
• Although there is mechanical road sweeping, it is possible only on main roads. It is not possible on colony roads.
• The process of mechanical road sweeping is good, but its implementation is very poor. During day time, it cannot be done due to traffic and at night, it cannot be used due to parking.
• In mechanical road sweeping, there is suction of dust, collection of dust in chamber and unloading at the disposal point. If these work efficiently, this is the best solution for dust control on the roads. There is also a system of water sprinkling in this.
• The brush is very expensive and it not changed timely, whereas it has to be changed every month.
• There is a lack of interdepartmental coordination. There are operational issues, which the public is not aware of.
• Road cleaning without involvement of everybody is not possible.
• We must address the root cause of the dust on the road and then decide on whether to use mechanical or manual sweeping.
• The height of the plantar in the central median on the road should be raised, so that when it is watered, the top soil does not run off.
• Vehicles carrying cement and soil should be covered as per CPCB guidelines to prevent airborne dispersal of dust. Use of a tight compact cover prevents airborne dust pollution.
• Curb stones, road shoulders remain in a state of disrepair because people (hawkers, street vendors, cobblers, fruit vendors etc.) retail on pavements. They also need to be sensitized
• Desilting of drains and removal of dust should be assigned to one person.
• A passing vehicle works up airborne dust pollution due to the presence of loose sand on curb sides or on the sides of the road.
• In gated communities, the dust is due to dry sweeping. Daily sprinkling with water is required.
• Dust has silica which is harmful to the lungs.
• The Supreme Court has mandated installation of one smog gun, if the built-up area is 20,000 sq m. If the area is more than 40,000, the two smog guns have to be installed.
• For every sq m of construction, there is only 40 g of construction dust. For every sq m of demolition, there is 400 g of demolition dust which is released in the environment.
• We need to look at cleaner construction by using prefabricated structures in busy residential areas.
• The focus is on dust but fires in landfills is also very important during summer.
• Temperature sensors, CCTV cameras should be installed. 
• Landfills should be scientifically designed. Our landfills are not designed scientifically as a result there is fire in summer months which causes pollution.
• Spot fires and e-waste fires are constant sources of pollution especially in summers. Waste burning is a rampant process throughout the year.

Participants

• Dr Anil Kumar
• Dr Ravindra Kumar
• Mr Vivek Kumar
• Mr Neeraj Tyagi
• Mr Pradeep Khandelwal
• Ms Rekha Agarwal
• Ms Ruchika Sethi Takkar