New Delhi, Sep 10 (PTI) The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Central Pollution Control Board and the Commission for Air Quality Management to explain within four weeks why ozone levels in certain areas of Delhi were exceeding permissible limits.
According to an order dated September 6, the green panel directed the authorities concerned to “submit relevant material explaining why ozone levels in certain specified areas exceed permissible limits and to outline any targeted approaches that can be adopted for those areas”.
A bench headed by National Green Tribunal Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava referenced data from an eight-hour average report shared by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) last week.
The report revealed that ozone concentrations surpassed national standards at seven monitoring stations in Delhi last year while nine stations recorded similar breaches during this summer.
The tribunal said the measures proposed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and the DPCC to combat air pollution were largely general in nature, addressing multiple pollutants.
The green panel asked if specific actions had been introduced to directly tackle ozone pollution.
It further emphasised the need for targeted measures, asking the agencies to “share any targeted approach which can be adopted specifically for the ozone itself, because the measures disclosed are of a general nature and relate to air pollution control for all pollutants”.
The National Green Tribunal took suo motu cognisance of a news report in April regarding elevated ozone levels and instructed the agencies to detail the steps being taken to manage levels of ozone, which is highly reactive and volatile, it said in the order.
The DPCC’s latest report highlighted that dangerous levels of ground-level ozone were recorded in several traffic-heavy areas during April and May 2023. Nehru Nagar witnessed 56 days of high ozone levels, Patparganj 45 days and Aurobindo Marg 38 days.
Nehru Nagar, located near Lajpat Nagar, recorded the highest concentration of ozone at 224.9 micrograms per cubic metre, far above the national standard of 100 micrograms per cubic metre during an eight-hour period.
Other peaks included 188.3 micrograms per cubic metre in Patparganj and 175.4 micrograms per cubic metre in RK Puram, according to the DPCC’s findings. PTI NSM SZM
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