Every year, as the Northeast monsoon recedes and the winds come to a standstill, the air quality in Delhi-NCR plummets. The air quality remains very poor – severe from October to January every year.
Today, as we study the AQI, we asked ourselves – How bad is Delhi’s Air Quality?
As it turns out, it is the worst place in the world right now. Only 2-3 other places record numbers that are as high as Delhi.
Only the following areas have an AQI close to Delhi:
A. Zambia
B. Ankara, Turkey
C. 1-2 areas in parts of Ireland and Europe
What leads to the poor AQI
Fires?
Fires in the fields of Northern India are often blamed for poor AQI.
This is the map of fires currently burning:
And this is the AQI map from Punjab to Delhi:
As we can see, the AQI in Punjab is much better than in Delhi.
Is it that Delhi is a trough?
The terrain map shows that the flatlands extend from Punjab to Vindhyas in the South and Aravalis in the West. Delhi lies in the flatlands and no trough feature is observed.
Is it the winds?
Many people say that Delhi does not experience wind speeds like Punjab. Therefore, because the winds stagnate here, the pollution carried by the fires is deposited in Delhi and becomes our smog.
According to this wind contours map from accuweather.com, the wind systems are uniform. That is, the winds flow right through Delhi onwards to the eastern plains.
In this map, from windy.app, we notice that the windspeed is 3.0 m/s in North Punjab, but gradually increases to 3.6 m/s in Delhi.
Further, one may want to notice the direction of the winds reaching Delhi. Where else are they coming from?
Thermal Power Plants of Delhi
Delhi has 11 thermal power plants within a 300 km radius.
Only two of these plants – Mahatma Gandhi TPS (Haryana) and Dadri TPS (Uttar Pradesh) have technology to neutralise pollutants.
This report by Hindustan Times tells us that the limit for the others to comply with pollution control norms has been extended again – to 2016 December. The original notification requiring these plants to comply with pollution control came in 2015. For 7 years, the plants have not been able to put pollution control measures in place.
In addition to power plants within the city, a lot of RWAs that ensure 100% power supply run Diesel based DG sets that contribute directly to air pollution.
Local Burning of Waste
Both at the local level, where people burn newspaper and other waste material to keep warm, and at the Ghazipur and other landfills, burning of unsegregated waste is an accepted practice.
This leads to release of pollutants in the air. The waste burning intensifies in winter months – November to January, as people need to keep warm.
Construction Activity
Construction adds to PM2.5 pollution as fine dust is trapped in the air.
Delhi-NCR has among the highest levels of construction at any time.
On October 29th, 2022, the Central Government’s Air Quality Panel banned all construction work in the Delhi NCR region.
To ensure that the daily workers, who depend on construction activity for their livelihood, are not impacted, an incentive was also announced for all daily workers in this segment.
However, there is no abatement (slowing down/reduction) in construction activity. This includes activities by builders and by people who are getting their own buildings constructed/renovated.
Vehicular Pollution
An average vehicle plying on diesel or petrol releases Carbon monoxide, Nitrogendioxide, and particulate matter. Commercial vehicles generate even more.
According to the Delhi Economic Survey 2020-21, Delhi had 122.53 lakh vehicles on its roads as of March 31, 2021. This was a 3.09% increase over the previous year.
Of these:
82,39,550 – Two Wheelers
33,84,736 – Cars and Jeeps
1,14,869 – Autorickshaws
Commercial vehicles are in addition to this.
Delhi also hosts Asia’s largest fruits and vegetable mandi at Azadpur and a small mandi at Okhla and other places.
There are industrial units in Mayapuri and Shahdara.
Therefore, commercial vehicles form an important percentage of vehicular traffic.
E Waste
Where do old mobile phones go to die? They come to East Delhi.
When we generate all that e waste, do we think about how it is going to be recycled?
Formal e waste management facilities in India are much lesser than the demand.
This leads to a situation in which informal and unsafe disposal of e waste is done.
In January 2022, East Delhi Municipal Corporation tried to collect e waste and scrap through another contractor. But that scheme was only partially successful.
Now, let’s take a deeper look at Delhi’s pollution map.
Let’s identify the highest points and see if there is any correlation.
714 – This is the highest level in NCR today. The area is Jahangirpuri, a stone’s throw away from Azadpur Mandi.
700 – Punjabi Bagh – Next to Mayapuri Industrial Estate (where there is no monitoring station)
639-636-576 – Eastern Delhi – This is where E waste disposal happens, there are 3 thermal power plants.
When we superimpose industrial activity, thermal power plants, and other human activity that is native to Delhi, a different image appears.
In this report, CSE (Center for Science and Environment) has published its study, based on data from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Decision Support System (DSS)’s data.
The question that still remains unanswered is – why does this happen primarily in these 3 months? One possible answer is that the air becomes heavy on account of relative humidity. But that would be true of monsoons too. We welcome all thoughts on that topic.
Activity for you
Take a map of Delhi (You can take the printout of the image above or get a fresh image from any AQI monitoring website).
Then superimpose manually, human activity like:
A. Industrial Area
B. High commercial and vehicular activity
C. Thermal Power Plants
D. E waste Disposal
E. Sewage Treatment Plants
Check whether there is a correlation between these human activities and AQI levels in Delhi.
Share your images in the comments below.