Archive · 31 Aug 2026
Delhi pollution board seeks ₹80 lakh to study ozone sources
Delhi has unusually high levels of ozone near the ground.
The Central Pollution Control Board wants to find out where this ozone comes from.
It says the investigation could cost about ₹80 lakh and take one year.
The board does not currently have the money.
It has asked the National Green Tribunal to let it use money from an environmental compensation fund.
Scientists will check pollution from nearby and distant sources, including vehicles, factories and natural sources.
Ozone forms when certain gases react in sunlight.
High ozone can harm people’s lungs and affect plant growth.
The Central Pollution Control Board told the National Green Tribunal that an ozone source study would cost about ₹80 lakh.
The proposed study would examine local, regional, biogenic, soil and transboundary sources of Delhi’s elevated ozone.
It would use monitoring, precursor assessment, photochemical modelling and source apportionment over about one year.
The CPCB said it lacks funds and requested permission to use the NGT Environment Compensation Fund.
The tribunal will consider the request on November 3 in a suo motu case on Delhi’s ground-level ozone.
- Who
- The Central Pollution Control Board, an expert committee chaired by IIT Kanpur professor Mukesh Sharma, and the National Green Tribunal are involved.
- What
- The CPCB is seeking permission to fund a comprehensive study into the causes of elevated ground-level ozone in Delhi.
- When
- The expert committee was formed on April 17; its recommendations were discussed in June, and the NGT will consider the funding request on November 3.
- Where
- Delhi; the matter is before the National Green Tribunal.
- Why
- The study is intended to identify the sources and causes of elevated ozone so they can be better understood.
- Estimated cost
- Around ₹80 lakh
- Estimated duration
- About one year
- Study focus
- Local, regional, biogenic, soil and transboundary ozone sources
- Methods
- Detailed monitoring, precursor assessment, photochemical modelling and source apportionment
- Funding request
- Permission to use the NGT Environment Compensation Fund
- Health effects
- Ozone can impair lung function and increase risks of respiratory illnesses, asthma, bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases and premature mortality
- Formation of ozone
- Ground-level ozone forms through reactions between nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in sunlight