Delhi minister Gopal Rai flags off 150 mobile anti-smog guns

NEW DELHI: Kickstarting a mega campaign of sprinkling water on roads to control dust pollution, environment minister Gopal Rai flagged off 150 mobile anti-smog guns from Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday.
The Delhi government had in its 15-point winter action plan kept a provision of 521 water-sprinkling machines, 233 fixed anti-smog guns and 150 mobile anti-smog guns.
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“There will be two anti-smog guns to sprinkle water in each of Delhi’s 70 Assembly constituencies. Moreover, an additional mobile anti-smog gun will be deployed in the city’s hotspots where the air quality index (AQI) is higher,” said Rai.
The minister added that last winter, the deployment of just 10 mobile anti-smog guns had a positive impact.
“The mobile anti-smog guns installed on trucks will sprinkle water between 10am and 6pm every day. These vehicles will cover 10 kilometres. The trucks that we have procured for the purpose have the capacity to store 7,000 litres of water at a time. They will be refuelled for a second shift once they are empty,” Rai said.
The minister further pointed out that the pollution levels in the city during Diwali were lower this year compared to last time.
“People of Delhi celebrated the festival with sensibility and the way they followed the Supreme Court’s orders is extremely commendable. Every year, the level of pollution rises rapidly a day after Diwali but this time, it was the lowest in the past five years during morning hours. It is because of our collective effort that there has been a decline of 30% in pollution levels compared to the previous year,” Rai said.
“Though a few people still burst crackers, I am optimistic that they will also become more sensible and be more aware about safeguarding the environment and that next year, we will see a further reduction in pollution levels through our combined efforts,” the minister added.
Rai said that the city’s AQI was still ‘very poor’, which indicated that with the onset of winter, pollution levels are set to increase.