IIT Kanpur study says trucks and road dust contribute most to Delhi pollution

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government may be targeting private vehicles to check rising air pollution levels, but a study by IIT-Kanpur shows that cars and jeeps contribute less than 10% of particulate matter while trucks are bigger culprits. Trucks and two-wheelers account for larger chunks of PM 2.5 pollution than passenger cars’ contribution of 14-15% to overall vehicle emissions

Another contributor to Delhi’s air pollution is road dust that accounts for about 35% of tiny particles known as PM 2.5.
The other big contributors include domestic cooking, power plants and industries. Vehicle emissions account for an average of 25% PM 2.5 levels, going up to 36% in the winters.

One environment official has said said overall pollution level goes up in winter  because of additional biomass burning for cooking as well as stubble burning in neighbouring states in November.

 PM 2.5 refers to fine particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 micrometres or less. This poses the greatest health hazard as it can enter the blood stream and also get lodged in the lungs.

The report is learnt to have emphasised, however, that massive and concerted action across all contributory factors needs to be taken and  the entire National Capital Region (NCR) and areas in the vicinity of Delhi will have to be actively engaged,in order to improve the air quality.