Govt sets up green war room to combat air pollution 24X7

Environment minister Gopal Rai on Monday launched an “Advanced Green War Room” that will enable officials to track updates related to air pollution in Delhi 24×7, and will ensure effective implementation of the government’s winter action which was announced last week.
The war room will follow a seven-point action plan which will include monitoring of pollution hotspots using drones, real-time source apportionment analysis, satellite monitoring of stubble burning, and integration of complaints received on the Green Delhi app among other things.
The war room will be handled by a team of eight-member environmental engineers headed by Nandita Moitra from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC), Rai said.
To be sure, earlier this month, DPCC took over the Delhi government’s pollution “super-site” set up at Rouse Avenue and a mobile van — both of which were being used by IIT-Kanpur till last year to provide real-time source-appropriation data for the city’s pollutants. The source apportionment study, which was to be done by IIT-Kanpur, has now been taken over DPCC.
Addressing media persons, Rai said that winter is around the corner in Delhi, wind speed is going to decrease gradually, the rain will stop, and the temperature is going to fall. He added that during such unfavourable conditions, the government is making efforts to keep the sources of pollution under check.
“To control it, the Delhi government in collaboration with the people of Delhi has put in place a 21-point winter action plan. To implement the entire action plan and monitor it, a 24×7 green war room is being started and seven jobs have been allotted to this green war room,” Gopal Rai said.
To be sure, this is not the first time that such a “war room” has been created – it was first started in 2020 and is an annual feature during winter when pollution spikes in the Capital.
Rai said that the main additional feature of the war room this year is to analyse data with drone mapping. Secondly, data from the “real-time source-apportionment study” will also be analysed there. Thirdly, analysis of the satellite data on the smoke produced from stubble burning at various places will also be done on a daily basis at the war room, he said.
“Like the previous years, all of Delhi will be connected with the green war room through the Green Delhi app. Through the Green Delhi app, the whole of Delhi becomes a participant in the fight against pollution. The theme ‘milkar chalen, pradooshan se laden (Let’s fight pollution together)’ can be made meaningful with public participation,” he said.
Of 80,473 complaints received on Green Delhi app since its inception in 2020, 88% have been resolved, Raid said.
“Taking our work forward, as part of the public awareness campaign, a Harit Kalash Yatra will be taken out in Connaught Place on October 1 with the objective to develop the green area of Delhi,” said Rai.
Rai added that the fifth task of the war room will be to monitor hotspots that are the primary centres that worsen Delhi’s air quality index (AQI).
“When the AQI of Delhi is 200, the AQI at these 13 hotspots is 125 to 150 more than normal. This makes the AQI level of the whole of Delhi high,” Rai said.
In 2018, DPCC and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) identified 13 pollution hot spots in Delhi — Anand Vihar, Mundka, Wazirpur, Jahangirpuri, RK Puram, Rohini, Punjabi Bagh, Okhla, Bawana, Vivek Vihar, Narela, Ashok Vihar and Dwarka.
The war room will also analyse data from the 24-hour air quality monitoring stations that have been set up at different places across.
Gopal Rai said that the war room team will also work to resolve the complaints received from the nodal officers of the 33 departments of Delhi that include MCD, PWD, DDA, revenue department, DSIDC, Delhi Jal Board, NDMC, Delhi Cantonment Board, DUSIB, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Police, Transport Department.
Last year, the green war room was launched in the first week of October with a 17-member team.