Industrial and traffic related air pollution are one of the responsible sources for generating high spatio-temporal variations in air quality in the city.
It is generally high at traffic intersection due to idling conditions and lots of resuspension of road dust. There is no such system developed at present that eliminates air pollutants, but nature has created some systems to deal with the detrimental fallouts of different anthropogenic activities up to a certain limit. There are some plants that can survive well with higher pollutant concentration. They act as a pollution scavenger without sustaining serious decline in their growth. They improve air quality by providing oxygen to the atmosphere and can serve as tolerant species.
With this view, IPCA collaborated with Municipal Corporation Faridabad (MCF) and Goodyear India Ltd. to install the air purification units at different traffic intersection in Ballabhgarh city and to develop a greenbelt of 3.2 km at the National Highway of India from Escort Mujesar Metro Station to Goodyear India Ltd. Factory under the project Solution of Air Pollution (SAP). The project was launched by Shri Yashpal, IAS, Hon'ble Commissioner, Municipal Corporation Faridabad and Shri M.K. Bansal, Project Director, CMU, in the presence of senior officials from Haryana th State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), CSIR- NEERI and other concerned government departments, on 27 March, 2021.
In this project, IPCA adopted two mechanism to curb the issue of air pollution i.e. by using natural method by planting shrubs and plants at the national highway which have air purification qualities and secondly, using artificial method by installing air purification units at 3 locations, chosen strategically, which helps in curbing air pollution at the source through identification of the local hotspots in Ballabhgarh.
Annual Statistics
1. Development of the Greenbelt
A total of 312 plants existed before March 2021 within the stretch of the National Highway between Escort Mujesar to Sant Surdas Marg Metro Station and the central verge has the maximum width of 12 feet and minimum to 2 feet towards the Escort Mujesar Metro Station. The central verge between it was mostly barren and had very few plantations. Therefore, to address this issue and to enhance the visual and landscape quality of the highway, total of 4801 plants have been planted on the greenbelt in which 1273 plants have been planted from the Goodyear India Ltd. factory Gate 2 to Goodyear India Ltd. Gate 1 and 3528 plants have been planted from the Goodyear India Ltd. factory to Escorts Mujesar. Out of 4801 plants, around 1262 Bougainville plants and 2352 Kaneer plants were planted from March to July month and 840 saplings of Dianthus, Calendula and Petunias were planted in December month. Other than plant saplings, 6 large safety boards and 40 environment slogan boards were also installed. The safety board ensures smooth traffic as it informs the driver about the correct lanes to drive in.