Delhi To Send SMS Alerts About Pollution Levels From Next Winter

Pollution alerts, till now confined to China's Beijing, will now become common place in India's capital city of Delhi. Starting next winter, Delhi denizens would be receiving email and SMS alerts and health advisories on their mobile phones indicating pollution levels. The warning system, to be provided by the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution and Control Authority (EPCA), will help the people avoid highly polluted areas. Pollution alerts would be sent through newspapers, TV and radio whenever the air quality is very poor. They will be beneficial to those suffering from pulmonary and cardiac ailments.

As of now, real-time pollution status is available through the AQI. The websites of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), EPCA and SAFAR also provide health advisories according to the pollution levels.

Beijing has been sending out such alerts on the social media, television, radio and mobile apps. In India, Ahmedabad is the only country where the early warning system is in place. Ahmedabad civic authorities send over 1000 emails, SMS alerts and inform over 200 schools about the air quality index. India has the highest number of pollution-related deaths in the world – 2.5 million of the total 9 million worldwide in 2015.