The Delhi government on Friday launched a pilot project involving drones to spray water in the hotspot zones for reducing pollution.
Informing about the initiative, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that pollution levels are higher than normal across 13 hotspots in the city and to effectively reduce the same, a demonstration of water spraying by drones was conducted at the Anand Vihar area.
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He noted that this pilot project aims to spray water using drones in places other than roads within the hotspot areas. He further said that mobile anti-smog guns are being used to spray water on the roads, but for areas other than roads, a drone water-spraying demonstration was conducted. “If the pilot project is successful, it will help in spraying water in places other than roads within the hotspots, ” he added.
The minister said that the government’s aim is to make use of modern technology to combat pollution and informed that each drone can carry up to 15 liters of water and spray it from above. He said that the report on the effectiveness of this measure will be sent to the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee(DPCC), and officials concerned will analyze the data and submit a report to the government.
The minister said that work is being carried out based on specific action plans developed for each of the 13 hotspots, with 13 coordination teams for this purpose. As many as eighty mobile anti-smog guns have been installed in hotspot areas to reduce dust pollution. Additionally, the MCD’s DC has been instructed to regularly visit the hotspots with all relevant officials, he added.
He said, “All teams have been instructed to conduct frequent inspections. Sixty-eight static anti-smog guns have been deployed on roads and in open areas to prevent road dust from spreading.” Besides, 200 mobile anti-smog guns have been deployed across 70 assembly constituencies and hotspots to reduce dust on roads and in open areas, and additionally, 146 anti-smog guns have been installed on top of high-rise buildings.
