Delhi air pollution: Kejriwal govt may rope in Pawan Hans helicopters for aerial sprinkling of water

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is in talks with state-owned helicopter service company Pawan Hans to aerially sprinkle water to curb air pollution in the city, state Environment Minister Imran Hussain said.

"Delhi govt is in talks with Pawan Hans for aerial sprinkling of water over the city to bring down particulate matter @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia," he tweeted.

The helicopter service company, in a letter, asked the Delhi administration for a meeting to discuss the matter regarding the possibility of carrying out the exercise which "shall require a comprehensive feasibility study and approvals from various authorities".

Pawan Hans, an enterprise under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, said it "has the capacity to carry out such assignment and has carried out similar exercises in the past for washing of insulators of high tension lines and agriculture spraying."

It suggested setting up a joint group of the government and its own team to work out a proposal.

The decision comes as Delhi continues to reel under hazardous air quality conditions. Although the thick smog is likely to disperse, the Air Quality Index (AQI) is expected to maintain its severity across Delhi-NCR.

While the Delhi government decided to bring odd-even car rationing scheme in place from the next week to tackle pollution, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) will on Saturday take a call whether the move should be implemented.  

The tribunal had earlier slammed the Delhi government for not doing anything to control the toxic air pollution. It had directed the government to track down all the hot spots with the PM10 more than 600 and spray water from helicopters or aircraft to tackle dust pollution across the city.