NEW DELHI: From October onwards, the public will be able to get alerts for the worsening of the Air Quality Index on their cell phones. In a recently held meeting with the pollution control authorities and the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR, the latter asked the officials to prepare a plan empowering the public to receive updates on AQI, advisories and steps taken by the government to control the situation, officials said.
The officials said that the authorities would use SMS, the internet, and the MAUSAM mobile app to disseminate alerts about deterioration and improvement in the air pollution level, contacts of the control rooms and the measures taken to improve the AQI.
The pollution control watchdog of the NCR has asked Secretaries, Environment Department, CPCB, DPCC, and State Pollution Control Board related to respective NCR states to come up with a plan to make the public aware of the developments in AQI through mass media, a senior official said.
“The updates will also include information about any restriction in the Graded Response Action Plan and relations in the norms,” he added. The CAQM enforces the GRAP in the city from October when the air quality starts to deteriorate due to multiple factors including the season of farm fires and low wind velocity to disperse the pollutants suspended in the air.