New Delhi: As the capital braces for another winter pollution season, Public Works Department (PWD) has put in place a hotspot-based plan aimed at tackling one of the most persistent contributors to poor air quality: dust from roads, construction activity and other open sources.
PWD has identified 47 pollution hotspots across the city. This is the gap PWD’s expanded hotspot strategy aims to address: instead of limiting action to the pollution hotspot itself, the department plans to identify and tackle dust sources across a 3-km radius around it.
Officials said the focus would be on preventing dust from becoming airborne rather than dealing with it only after pollution levels rise. The plan goes beyond cleaning up the immediate stretch around a hotspot. Even where pollution-control measures are already in place, dust from nearby areas can undermine the effort. Loose soil, uncovered construction material and excavation activity just outside a treated stretch can continue to send dust into the air, with wind carrying it towards the hotspot. dust from exposed surfaces can add substantially to the particulate load, particularly during dry and stagnant weather conditions While vehicular emissions remain a major contributor to Delhi’s pollution.