A recent study has indicated that the pollution caused by vehicles in Delhi reduced by seven per cent due to the recently launched Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), reports Hindustan Times.
The study was conducted by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) on behalf of the Delhi Government’s environment department. The report uses a IIT Kanpur study to push its assertions.
The EPE aims to divert around 50,000 vehicles going to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and hence decongest Delhi to bring down vehicular pollution.
According to a senior official from the environment department, results of the study show an increase in nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide by seven per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively along the EPE.
Particulate matter has also increased by 0.9 per cent on the EPE due to an increase of vehicular activity since the expressway opened in May 2018.
“The EPE was expected to reduce the number of heavy diesel truck traffic that enters the national capital triggering traffic chaos and air pollution,” a senior official from the Delhi environment department was quoted in the report as saying.
Since the pollution levels across EPE has increased, it has been inferred that pollution inside the city has reduced by the same level, the official added. The study further shows that an average of 10,000 vehicles use the EPE every day, of which 32 per cent are trucks, 60 per cent are cars and the rest comprises of other vehicles including buses and trucks.