Air quality index for Delhi: trend analysis & implications for Commonwealth Games 2010 ...
Delhi is gearing up to host Commonwealth Games in October 2010. This latest analysis of air quality trends in Delhi and their implications on CWG 2010 by Dr. Sarath Guttikunda suggests innovative interventions for fast & effective air quality management.
Delhi, the capital city of India, is gearing up to host the Commonwealth Games in October 2010 (CWG 2010). With the Games around the corner, the debate on air quality in Delhi and athletes health during the Games is slowly taking center stage, very similar to the debates on air quality in Beijing before and during the Olympics Games 2008. In case of Beijing, some stringent regulations and policy measures were implemented, months in advance, to ensure clean air days before and during the Olympic Games. However, this remains a challenge for the Delhi authorities. In India, there is no proposed methodology for estimating air quality index (AQI) - a common denominator to compare the observed pollutant concentrations across as a measure of the health impacts. This paper presents an application for Delhi using the monitoring data, an analysis of the observed trends, and implications to the Commonwealth Games in October, 2010.