Real-time apportionment study restarts 1 month later

The Delhi government's real-time source apportionment study, which attempts to capture pollution data instantaneously, resumed on Wednesday, a week after directives from the Supreme Court and around a month after it went dark amid a tussle between the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

Data from the study's real-time portal till 4pm on Wednesday said that vehicles were the biggest contributor, accounting for 34% of the city's PM2.5 (an ultra-fine pollutant) concentration.

Secondary inorganic aerosols particles formed in the air as a result of gases reacting with each other from combustion sources contributed 32%, while biomass burning was responsible for around 26%, showed the data.

The study was paused on October 18 this year, with the state government alleging that the chairperson of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) "arbitrarily halted" the programme.