Aerial sprinkling impossible task
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s plan to sprinkle water from helicopters to bring down dust and pollutants appears to be fraught with problems.
As a majority of the city falls under the “no fly” or “restricted zone”, the spraying operation will likely be patchy. According to Air Traffic Controllers (ATC), south and west Delhi are descending zones due to proximity with Delhi airport, and movement of helicopters at low height is not possible unless normal flight operations are stopped.
Besides this, the New Delhi district is a no-fly zone. So even if Pawan Hans, the governmentowned helicopter service, agrees to run the operation, water sprinkling will only be possible in limited areas such as north and eastern parts of the city.
Delhi environment minister Imran Hussain held a meeting with Pawan Hans on Monday to discuss the project’s feasibility.
“Aircraft start descending at the height of 3,500 feet when it approaches Delhi. Areas like Vasant Kunj and Dwarka are descending zones. Delhi airport is a busy airspace, so you can’t halt operations for water sprinkling. It will only be possible to operate choppers at low height for long periods in north and east Delhi,” said Gurcharan Bhatura, a retired ATC, who handled traffic at Delhi airport for over 20 years.
When contacted, Vanrajsinh H Dodia, general manager with Pawan Hans said that no decision on the matter has been taken yet. Pawan Hans has also called for a feasibility study and approvals from aviation regulator and civil aviation ministry.
Experts from IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and Bose Institute in Kolkata said the method is effective only when the source of pollution is confined to a limited area.
“Given the fact that Delhi’s pollution level drops temporarily on a rainy day and shoots up soon after the rain, this measure may not be effective. It could help in removal of plumes coming from reactor accidents or pollution from temporary and limited sources like forest fires, but not pollution of a city like Delhi,” said SN Tripathi coordinator of the Centre for Environmental Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur.