Delhi pollution: Lessons from a green oasis for a city that can’t breathe

NEW DELHI: With much of the focus on Delhi’s pollution hotspots at Anand Vihar and the industrial areas of Narela, Bawana, Mundka and Jahangirpuri, the air quality monitoring station at Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences in Dilshad Garden has not got much attention. It should, because when most other monitoring stations recorded the air quality as “very poor” or “severe” in October, this one indicated an oasis with the air only in the “moderate” or “poor” category.


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In fact, there was only a single “very poor” day recorded in October. Even in November, while air pollution has spiked alarmingly across Delhi, repeatedly entering the “severe” zone, IHBAS has remained an exception, even though it has flirted with the danger mark on a couple of days. On November 11, the IHBAS station showed an AQI of 361.3 at 9pm against an overall figure of 470.4 for Delhi.

A look at where this air quality monitoring station is located might explain the seeming anomaly. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) set this up among greenery, and when TOI visited the site, the PM2.5 reading displayed on the board outside was as low as 68 micrograms per cubic metre at a time when the city’s average was 200 micrograms. This place had close to the safe standard of 60 micrograms of PM2.5.

While Delhi’s average AQI reading for October was over 250, the average at the IHBAS station was just under 160. The station also recorded seven “satisfactory” days when the AQI dipped below 100.

Experts say the station is a good indicator of what can happen when you have greenery around your house or a tree buffer capable of trapping pollutants and dust. “The effect of the greenery shows that pollution can be controlled and reduced. This is also an indicator of the difference in air quality in a park and a busy intersection with a lot of traffic,” said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment.

Chowdhury also said that Delhi now had a good mix of locations for the monitoring stations and this would help agencies track the hotspots. “We now have monitors in green locations, on roadsides, in industrial areas, even in residential colonies. The readings for each station can help us take localised response measures,” she explained.

Arun Sharma, professor at the University College of Medical Sciences in Dilshad Garden, pointed out that the greenery at IHBAS was not the only factor for the low readings. This was also because of low vehicular and industrial emissions at the spot. “The entire area is green, but there’s very little vehicular traffic and almost no industries in the area,” noted Sharma. “These result in the good air quality. All these factors can help people determine how to create a low-pollution area.”