Delhi: Control room launched to monitor construction sites, open burning

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Wednesday attended the launch of a control centre to monitor pollution sources, especially at construction sites, in the city.

The Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) will, besides monitoring pollution sources, oversee mechanical road sweepers and enforcement activities across the city.

“All activities happening inside Delhi are being monitored” at the centre, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.

In all, 707 sites are currently under watch, he said.

Construction sites measuring more than 500 square metres will be monitored through the system, while cameras will also be used to detect incidents of open burning, he said.

The centre will monitor all air quality stations and analyse both current and historical pollution data to identify areas where pollution levels are rising and determine whether measures such as mechanical road sweeping and water sprinkling are needed, the minister said.

According to Sirsa, officials inspecting polluting industries and other sites will be equipped with body cameras to track whether they are at the sites and whether any action was taken.

The centre will operate in three shifts.

Gupta said the ICCC will provide 24-hour surveillance of pollution sources.

“AI-driven cameras are being used here, and our mechanical sweeping machinery can also be monitored via GPS from here,” she said.

Sirsa said the monitoring of the government’s ‘No PUC, No Fuel’ initiative would be strengthened by integrating automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras with the command centre.

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The minister said an intelligent traffic management system will help regulate traffic signals based on real-time traffic conditions and, in turn, contribute to reducing vehicular pollution.

The system will coordinate traffic signals so that the duration of red and green lights can be adjusted according to traffic flow.

On firecrackers, Sirsa said only green crackers will be allowed to be brought to Delhi.

He appealed to residents to keep pollution concerns in mind while celebrating Diwali.