Govt in Talks With Chopper Service to Sprinkle Water Over Choked Capital

New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday said that it was in talks with state-owned helicopter service company Pawan Hans to aerially sprinkle water over the city to settle pollutants.

Delhi Environment Minister Imran Hussain tweeted: "Delhi govt is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia."

This comes in wake of NGT's (National Green Tribunal) order on Thursday directing the government to track down all the hot spots with the PM10 more than 600 and spray water from helicopters or aircraft to tackle dust pollution across the city.

The helicopter service company, in a letter, asked the Delhi administration for a meeting to discuss the matter regarding the possibility of carrying out the exercise which "shall require a comprehensive feasibility study and approvals from various authorities".

Pawan Hans, an enterprise under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said it "has the capacity to carry out such assignment and has carried out similar exercises in the past for washing of insulators of high tension lines and agriculture spraying."

It suggested setting up a joint group of the government and its own team to work out a proposal.

Meanwhile, uncertainty prevailed over the implementation of the odd-even car rationing scheme as the NGT on Friday questioned the rationale behind Delhi government's decision to roll it out for five days next week, saying the scheme "cannot be imposed like this".

The NGT questioned the basis for the AAP government's decision pointing out that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) have found that the levels of PM10 and PM2.5 were cumulatively higher when the scheme was implemented twice earlier.

The NGT termed the plan a "farce" and asked the Delhi government to give an undertaking that it will roll out the scheme only when the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 was over 300.

The prevailing level of PM2.5 in the capital was hovering around 433 microgrammes per cubic metre, while PM10 stood at around 617, as per the latest CPCB data.

The city has been experiencing 'severe' air quality and has been reeling under a blanket of thick haze, as pollution levels breached permissible standards by multiple times.

(With agency inputs)