“Delhi government will hire a mobile air quality monitoring van to operate in at least 15 areas on the ring road from April 6 in the run-up to the second phase of the odd-even scheme from April 15 to 30. The monitoring will continue till the end of the scheme.
The van run by Nevco Engineering Private Limited will start at 8 am from Lajpat Nagar and monitor air quality till 8 pm from the same spots. It will cover AIIMS, ISBT, RK Puram, Hyatt Hotel, Delhi Secretariat, Sarai Kale Khan, Dhaula Kuan, Model Town, Shalimar Bagh, Vidhan Sabha and Delhi Cantt, among other spots, said sources.
The same van monitored air quality in over 200 spots during the first phase of the scheme in January. The van measures particulate levels including PM 10, PM 2.5 and PM 1, and gaseous pollutants such as NO2, SO2 and ozone. It has a pipe and noose device which sucks in the ambient air. A structure known as Aeroqual calculates the pollutant level, which is uploaded online in real-time. The first phase of the odd-even scheme in January was the first time the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) used such a device for air quality monitoring.
Scientists said this time the van was being restricted to a localised area to evaluate the impact of the scheme, and to rule out weather and temperature factors. “We are trying to cover the same locations every day at roughly the same time, along a fixed route to get an idea of how the pollutant levels vary before and during the odd-even scheme,” said an official. “During the first phase… while we went to more areas, every spot was covered only once during the 15 days of the scheme.” The Indian Express. Read it on delhiair.org.
Odd-even phase II: Air quality monitoring van to be in action from April 6 in Delhi
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