Bump in Delhi's Air Quality Index due to dusty winds from West: Environment Minister Gopal Rai

New Delhi [India], May 18 : The dusty winds blowing from the west including Thar and Pakistan have played a significant role in increasing the Air Quality Index (AQI) level and Particulate Matter (PM10) of Delhi, said a government release on Thursday.

The release issued by the office of the Environment Minister stated, "On May 16 and 17, an increase in the amount of PM10 was observed in Delhi. In view of this, instructions have been given to all the agencies to run anti-smog guns continuously and sprinkle water at C&D sites."

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday chaired a review meeting on Delhi's air quality today at Delhi Secretariat.

Addressing the meeting, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said, "The Kejriwal government has always been taking tough steps regarding increasing pollution in Delhi. Today in the review meeting, it was noted that on May 16 and 17, a significant portion of Delhi and NCR was engulfed by dust, causing reduced visibility. The spike in Delhi's AQI levels can be attributed to the westerly winds that carried dust from Thar and Pakistan."

Minister said that officials have been instructed to continuously operate anti-smog cannons and sprinkle water at C&D sites.

"Consequently, the contribution of dust pollution increased from 11 per cent between May 1 to 15 to 65.77 per cent on May 16 and 17. This led to severe levels of PM10 in Delhi during these two days. Officials have been instructed to continuously operate anti-smog cannons and sprinkle water at C&D sites", he added.

Minister Gopal Rai further said that as part of the Summer Action Plan, several departments have deployed mechanical road sweeping machines, water sprinklers and mobile anti-smog guns throughout Delhi to combat dust pollution.

"As part of the Summer Action Plan, several departments have deployed 84 Mechanical Road Sweeping (MRS) machines, 609 water sprinklers, and 185 mobile anti-smog guns throughout Delhi to combat dust pollution. Previously, anti-smog guns were only required on construction sites larger than 20,000 square metres to address dust pollution", Gopal Rai said.

Further, the minister added that all relevant departments have been instructed to monitor construction sites continuously, and any violations of the rules will result in appropriate action.

"However, the new regulations now mandate the installation of anti-smog guns on construction sites larger than 5000 square metres. All relevant departments have been instructed to monitor construction sites continuously, and any violations of the rules will result in appropriate action by the department in accordance with NGT guidelines", he said.

The officers of the Environment Department and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) were also present at the meeting.