New Delhi, Nov 13 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has prepared a plan for solving Delhi's air pollution crisis and among the recommendations is community burning of firecrackers.
TERI has recommended community burning of firecrackers by allowing only Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to purchase a fixed quota allotted to them. TERI has advised to permit sale of one-fifth the amount of fire crackers sold in 2019.
TERI has said that 16 lakh households in NCR still use biomass burning for cooking purposes. These households need to switch to LPG. During winter season, TERI recommended providing two free cylinders, especially to 6 lakh BPL households. This measure can bring down the share of pollutants from residential sector by 5 per cent.
According to the plan, if both peak and non-peak sources such as transport, industries, residential and road dust are addressed, it is possible to reduce Delhi's PM 2.5 level by 46 per cent during winters, which can restore air quality to 'moderate' category.
The measures for addressing peak pollution sources include reducing crop burning. TERI's assessment suggests that the impact of stubble burning in adjoining states of Delhi can be brought down by 40 per cent during the days of peak burning activity. The key recommendations to control crop burning include enabling biomass aggregation and collection by mandating state and central organisations and creating special credit line scheme for financing farm equipment.
It has suggested creating a market for biomass briquettes to be used as fuel in thermal power stations, local industries, and hotels and dhabas. It has also recommended converting biomass crop residue into fuel to run decentralised cold storage facilities for horticulture produce and milk chilling applications.
The measures for addressing non-peak pollution sources like transport include incentivizing transition of pre-BS-IV commercial vehicles to BS-VI, accelerating the penetration of electric buses in Delhi NCR under FAME 2 scheme, and strengthening inspection and maintenance (I&M) system, the transport sector has a tangible reduction potential of 19 per cent in PM2.5 concentrations.
TERI also suggested accelerating the phase-out of pre-BS-IV private vehicles. Those who discard such vehicles to buy BS-VI vehicles could be incentivized through an excise rebate.
For industries, it has found that about 2,226 factories and plants in NCR (about 50 per cent) have not yet shifted to natural gas. Proper infrastructure needs to be built to supply natural gas to these factories. Industries should also be encouraged to transition to electric use, where feasible. Overall, industries in Delhi NCR have the potential to cut down PM 2.5 concentration levels by 11 per cent.
It has been said that all thermal power stations in NCR should comply with already notified emission standards by MoEFCC and use agricultural residue blend, instead of coal. This can bring down PM2.5 concentration levels by 3 per cent. If these plants do not comply, they should be closed during the five-month winter period.
On road dust, TERI further suggested effective utilization of existing machines for road sweeping for dust control. It said that smaller mechanized road sweeping machines should also be considered which are preferably electric to avoid further pollution load.
Sumit Sharma, Director, Earth Science and Climate Change Division, TERI added, "Some of the peak air pollution episodes during winters can be avoided by controlling agriculture crop burning and fire crackers. But this can only bring down the pollution levels to 'very poor' category. However, if we address both peak and non-peak sources such as transport, industries, residential and road dust, it is possible to reduce Delhi's PM 2.5 level by 46 per cent during winters, which can restore air quality to 'moderate' category."
Source: IANS
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