The LED panels in major traffic intersections of New Delhi will now display hourly air quality index and health advisories owing to the rising air pollution in the national capital. The move will be made under the CPCB project that will soon cover the metro stations in the near future.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) scientist, Aditya Sharma revealed that the project has been rolled out from Prime Minister’s Office while the Delhi government had contemplated but never really executed.
For the initial phase, 50 traffic signals have been selected including the ones located in Connaught Place and ITO. These LED panels will display hourly AQI whereby 0-50 is considered ‘Good’, 51-100 ‘Satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘Moderate’, 201-300 ‘Poor’, 301-400 ‘Very Poor’, and 401-500 ‘Severe’.
With each category, there is a different health advisory. For moderate numbers, it warns of breathing discomfort while severe implies that it may harm even the healthy people and seriously harm those suffering from diseases.
The board hasn’t put up new panels for the AQI display; rather the ones displaying short clips on road safety will be utilized for this purpose. The apex body has also informed the state pollution control boards of Delhi and NCR regions to intensify pollution mitigation efforts. Recently, all coal-based industries were instructed to be closed down for 2 weeks starting from January 15.
