We need to convert Delhis

polluting road into

contruction material

Swamispeak
(Swaminathan S Anklesaria
Aiyar)

Road to Better
Breathing

Delhis Odd Even

Air pollution caused by vehicular traffic has
declined by 50 per cent in the national capital
primarily caused by vehicular traffic has been
recorded according to the latest ambient air
data collected by mobile teams of Delhi
Pollution Control Committee on Saturday at
18 locations, through mobile dust samplers
on using the light scattering technique.

Acc. To a study by IIT-Kanpur

Contribution by PM10 (Particles below
10 microns)
ONLY 9% BY Vehicles(Trucks 46%)

10% BY
CONCRETE
BATCHING

10% BY
INDUSTRI
ES

Contribution by PM 2.5 (Particles below 2.5

microns) : Worse than PM 10

11% BY INDUSTRY

20% BY
VEHICLE
S

Study by IIT-Kanpur
But focusing only on the role of cars is not a solution
which most of the analysts are doing.
A Study By IIT-Kanpur shows that the biggest problem
of Delhis pollution is the dust dumping caused by
illegal sand mining by reducing the sand prices and
boost the construction industry.
Though, the road dust in winters came down by 10%
but overall pollution in winters goes up because of
additional biomass burning for cooking as well as
stubble burning in neighboring states.

The Supreme Court has laid down the April deadline

which looks enforceable on measures to check road
dust by road-vaccuming, paving sidewalks, and planting
grass on medians and central verges.

A deep ancillary thinking is necessary

because if the thousand road vaccumers
operate on Delhis streets, it will suck up
thousands of tonnes of dust every month.
But where we should put these tonnes of
dust? As the Delhis land is already
overfilled also, dumping in Yamuna is not
possible: as it will block the river in no
time.

Properly Sloped Roads as an option

Immediate action is required

to properly sloped roads so
that they are highest in there
centre and sloped gently
down into gutters on the
edges for drainage and
finally into the Yamuna which
is important for proper road
conservation.

The Dust settles, How?

Finding ways to aggregating fine dust into coarse

sand for using it in construction (as India is today
short of sand for construction today and imports
the same), Plus the sand mafia has a vital role to
play here, because they keep the construction
industry alive by supplying the sand for making
concrete and brick plaster.
Advantages Lower the prices of sand
Reduce illegal sand mining
Solve problem of dust dumping
And mainly, reduce

Pollution

Some Countries are using the

synthetic polymers and ligninbased chemicals to bind dust on
gravel roads.
Chemicals are used to bind dust in bulk

According to UNs World Urbanization Prospects, Tokyo will

remain the worlds populist city in the year 2030.

40

Predicted Population in 2030 (in

million)

35
30
25
20
15

2015
2030

10
5
0

Source: Open data,

World Bank