THE TIMES OF INDIA, NEW DELHI MONDAY, MAY 4, 2015 3TIMES CITY

New Delhi: A lot of confusionseems to exist over what reallycontributes to air pollution,particularly PM2.5 (fine, respi-rable particles) from the trans-port sector or from vehicles inDelhi. A letter accessed by TOIwritten by IIT professor Di-nesh Mohan to the transportministry claims that peoplemay be overestimating the“pollution load from traffic”and that there may be a hugedifference in the actual num-ber of vehicles on the road ascompared to those registeredofficially.

Mohan quotes a 2013 studythat concluded that the trans-port sector is responsible foronly 17% of PM2.5 emissionsas compared to 15% from brickkilns and as much as 12% fromLPG or domestic sector.

The transport ministryhas submitted the letter to Na-tional Green Tribunal to de-flect some attention from thetransport sector and pollution

load from old vehicles. Recent-ly, they filed an application qu-oting from Mohan’s letter toappeal for six months time tocome up with suggestions tocurb air pollution.

The GIS-based emissionsinventory by Saratha Gutti-kunda of Desert Research In-

stitute (DRI), which Mohanquoted, estimates PM2.5 pollu-tion from transport to be farlower than another study byscientists of Indian Instituteof Tropical Meteorology(IITM). This study, also GIS-based and conducted by chiefprogramme scientist Gufran

Beig, found PM2.5 emissionsfrom transport to be 32% in2010 and steadily increasing inlater years.

Guttikunda’s estimationseems to be far lower than evena Chinese government’s re-cently released emissions in-ventory for Beijing that esti-

mates more than 30% of PM2.5emissions in the city are from“mobile sources.”

The government has noconsensus on which data to gowith. Delhi Pollution ControlCommittee commissioned asimilar emissions inventory toIIT Kanpur’s professor Mu-kesh Sharma, which is likelyto be concluded in Septemberand may help clarify on pollu-tion sources.

Meanwh-ile, scientiststold TOI thereshould be nodoubt that tra-nsport is thebiggest culpritin terms ofPM2.5 emissions. “There is alot of difference between emis-sion contribution and actualpollution or the air qualitypeople breathe. For instance,power plants or brick kilns areelevated, almost 300 metresabove the breathing zone,while tailpipes are near ournoses. That’s what contributes

to the worst health impactsfrom PM2.5 emissions. I don’tthink there should be any con-fusion on this,” said a govern-ment scientist on the condi-tion of anonymity.

Anumita Roychowdhuryof Centre for Science and En-vironment clean air campaignsaid, “From the public healthperspective, proximity to thepollution source is most im-

portant. TheHealth EffectsInstitute, for in-stance, foundthe worst af-fected are thosewithin 500metres fromthe roadside.

They estimated about 55% ofpeople in Delhi live within that500 metres, so vehicles are themajor concern.”

She clarified that the Gutti-kunda study looks at emis-sions sources in the region andits conclusions cannot be ap-plied for Delhi where vehicu-lar sources are the largest.

Govt Unsure Which Study To Believe In, But Experts Sure That Transport Is Biggest CulpritSTUDIES THAT ARE CONFUSING SARKAR

MoEFCC in an affidavit to Supreme Court recently claimed that vehicles in Delhi contribute to only 6.6% of particulate matter pollution while road dust contributes 52%. This figure changed to 8.7%-20.5% for vehicles and 14.5%-29% for dust. The ministry also clarified that the figures were only for PM10

A 2010 study by IITM, Pune, said transport contributed to 32% of total PM2.5 emissions. It increased to 38% in 2013

2013 study by Sarath K Guttikunda and Giuseppe Calori put transport’s PM2.5 contribution at 17% as compared to 15% from brick kilns, 12% from LPG and other domestic sources

Recently, Chinese govt said mobile sources contribute to over 31% of total PM2.5 emissions in Beijing

What’s fouling air? Data puzzling govtTIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Three people of afamily were killed in a road ac-cident on Sunday when theywere returning from a wed-ding in outer Delhi’s Alipur.Police said an unknown vehi-cle had hit their bikes.

The deceased have beenidentified as Deshraj (32), hiswife Kavita (30) and his broth-er Yogesh (30), police said.Deshraj’s three children, Ni-tin (5) and Sadhna (3) and Ki-ran (2), had a miraculous es-cape but they have receivedserious injuries.

The incident was reportedaround 4am when a local spot-ted them lying on the road.They were allegedly hit by thevehicle near a Hanuman tem-ple on GT Karnal Road. Policesuspect the bikes first hit thespeed breaker and lost control.They were then hit by the vehi-cle from behind, which killedthree of them. A PCR van tookthem to Babu Jagjeevan RamHospital.

Deshraj’s father, BhagwatiPrasad, told police they all hadgone to a wedding at VictoriaGarden in Alipur on Saturday.On Sunday morning, the twobrothers decided to return totheir house on their bikes.They lived in Swaroop Na-gar’s Khadda Colony but wereoriginally from Aligarh, UttarPradesh.

Yogesh, a gardener, hadfirst dropped his wife, Geetaand his three-month-old baby.

He then came back to drop hisbrother’s family. According toPrasad, Deshraj, his wife andtheir two-year-old child wereon one bike while Yogesh and-Deshraj’s other two childrenwere on the other bike.

The family members ex-pressed anger that the policehave not identified the vehicleor the culprit. Their angerflared up when they were toldthe postmortem would be con-ducted on Monday.

A senior police officer said

that several teams have beenformed to nab the culprit. Po-lice are also checking theCCTV footage of the area.

An FIR has been regis-tered against unknown peopleunder IPC sections 279 (rashdriving), 337 (causing hurt byact endangering life or person-al safety of others), 338 (caus-ing grievous hurt by act en-dangering life or personalsafety of others) and 304 (cul-pable homicide not amount-ing to murder).

3 of family killed in roadaccident, kids survive

Sanjeev Rastogi

TRAGIC END: (Top) Grief-stricken wife and mother of Yogesh (left)who died in the accident, along with sister-in-law Kavita (right)

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New Delhi: Cops in NewDelhi district went into atizzy after receiving a callabout a police constablehanging from a tree in the Ridge forests near Man-dir Marg on Sunday eve-ning. However, when copsreached there they couldn’tfind the body after which asearch operation wasmounted.

Seniors officers have al-so initiated a probe to ex-plain the mysterious disap-pearance. Around 4.30pm, aperson called the controlroom saying that he hadseen the body of a policeconstable hanging from atree in the park behind Man-dir Marg police station.Sources said that the calleralso claimed to have found asuicide note from the pocketof the dead policeman inwhich he has named seniorofficers of the district to beresponsible for his death.

Several PCR teams wererushed to the spot but nei-ther the body nor the callerwas found there. The call-er’s number was alsoswitched off.

The rolls of police sta-tions and district line werechecked and a constable, Sujan Singh Meena, postedwith the third battalion

was found missing.Senior cops said that

Meena’s brothers also workwith Delhi Police and toldthem that he used to stay inthe flats behind MandirMarg police station.

He had lately taken toheavy drinking. He wasfound missing since Sundayafternoon, about the sametime the call was made. Mee-

na’s phone was also foundswitched off.

Sources said nearly 20teams have been formed toscan the entire Ridge forestto look for Meena whose lastlocation was traced nearMandir Marg police station.The teams have been askedto report to DCP Vijay Singhabout the progress of thesearch operations.

Police officers said thecaller is also being traced. Amissing case may be regis-tered if the call turns out tobe a hoax.

Cops hear aboutconstable’s suicide,but can’t find body

New Delhi: Police cancelledthe FIR in a case in which aman staged the kidnapping ofhis girlfriend in a bid to hide their relationship from their families.

On Wednesday, the wom-an’s brother approached westdistrict police. He said thewoman did not return fromwork. “On calling her, a manreceived the call and demand-ed the ransom. Twelve teams,led by ACP Ingit Pratap Singh,were formed,” said Pushpen-dra Kumar, DCP (west).

Police detained one Manoj,who she was in constant touchwith, after scanning her callrecords. He confessed to havereceived the call at the wom-an’s insistence. Police said theduo was in a relationship andhad gone to India Gate thatevening. The woman stayedback at Manoj’s house in SoniaVihar. The woman stated thateverything was done in a lightmanner with her consensus tohide their relationship.

FIR in fakekidnapping

case quashedNitisha.Kashyap

@timesgroup.com

Around 4.30pm, a person called the police saying that hehad seen the body of aconstable hangingfrom a tree in the parkbehind the MandirMarg police station

New Delhi: Five years afterDelhi Metro constructed itsstation at Green Park, someresidents have complainedthat they feel increased vibra-tions in their buildings. Theconcern was raised, claimedlocal residents, after the recentearthquake in Nepal.

“The underground Metrowas commissioned in the vi-

cinity of our buildings somefive years ago and since then,the level of vibrations has beenincreasing year after year,”said K K Kapila, a resident.

The group of locals, livingin Block A 8 to 12 of GreenPark, have written to DelhiMetro head Mangu Singh andthe secretary of urban develop-ment ministry on the issue.

The letter mentions thatthese buildings, along the ser-vice lane, abut the Green

Park Metro station. The GreenPark station is part of the Jahangirpuri-HUDA City Cen-tre corridor.

Meanwhile, Delhi Metrosaid that surveys and testshave already been carried outin the area, and the level of vi-brations felt was consideredwithin permissible limits.“There is no structural dangerand the level of vibrations iswithin the limits consideredappropriate from safety pointof view,” said the Delhi MetroRail Corporation (DMRC)spokesman.

The spokesman furtheradded, “DMRC engineers havesurveyed and monitored someof the strategic structures inthe area and have confirmedthe same. However, periodicmonitoring of existing levelsof vibrations during train op-eration is a continuous processso that levels remain safe andwithin limits.”

It’s not the first time thatDelhi Metro has received com-plaints of vibrations from ar-eas through which its corridoralignments have gone. Earlier,complaints of vibrations aswell as cracks in the facade ofthe buildings were reported byresidents of Model Town, Ja-nakpuri and also near the Air-port Express Line.

Green Park homesfeel tremors as

Metro runs below

Expect a hot Monday: The week ended on a hot and sunnynote for Delhiites as the maximum temperature settled at 38.9 degreesCelsius, average for this time of the season. Similar weather is likely on Monday, the Met office said. The sky is likely to remain clear and themaximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 39and 21 degrees Celsius, the Met department added. IANS

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RESIDENTS WRITE TO DMRC

New Delhi: To help educate orphans, students from the All In-dia Medical Institute (AIIMS) are conducting an exhibitionwhere they will raise awareness on issues such as organ dona-tion and drug abuse. “Catalyst,” the two-day exhibition orga-nized by ‘Parivartan’, the social service wing of students’union of AIIMS, is targeted at children from classes IX to XII.The exhibition is in its second year and exhorts children totake up medicine as a profession. PTI

AIIMS exhibition for orphans

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