DPCC seeks revised real-time pollution study, unlikely this year

New Delhi
The Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) is looking for an institute, either government or private, to prepare a fresh plan to track pollution sources in the Capital on a real-time basis. Resumption of real-time source apportionment is unlikely this year as the institute will revise the existing methodology, officials said.
Earlier this month, DPCC took over the super-site of the Delhi government at Rouse Avenue and a mobile van — both of which were being used till last year by IIT Kanpur to provide real-time data.
A senior DPCC official, requesting anonymity, said there were concerns over IIT Kanpur’s methodology and the same was raised multiple times last year, following which they decided to prepare a new methodology. “It was conveyed to IIT Kanpur multiple times that how data was being generated was not scientific. Therefore, a new methodology has been proposed, which may take time to be implemented,” the official said.
IIT Kanpur’s two-year term to manage and operate equipment and facilities ended in November 2023. Last month, Delhi’s environment minister, Gopal Rai, directed the principal secretary (environment and forest) to ensure the real-time source apportionment study was made operational by DPCC before the onset of winter.
The DPCC official said they took charge of the facility and van, with these now being used to capture air quality. However, they will not be able to identify sources of pollution on a real-time basis, until a new expert institution is appointed.
“We have floated a tender for the same. This institute will revise the methodology that was being used by IIT Kanpur and once approved, it can be implemented. It seems resumption of the real-time source apportionment is unlikely this year,” the official said.
IIT Kanpur made real-time data available to the Delhi government from November 2022 and to the general public from January 30, 2023, after the Delhi chief minister inaugurated the super-site.
In October 2023, Rai flagged that the study was halted by the DPCC chair over an alleged ₹2 crore due to the institute, raising objections over the validity of the data and methodology. The study was eventually resumed in early November, on the Supreme Court’s orders, but was stopped as IIT Kanpur’s tenure ended.