Delhi Has Taken More Air Pollution Control Measures Than Any Other City But There Is Still A Long Way Ahead: CSE Report

| Delhi has been battling Air Pollution for almost two decades and has even been able to gain some strides but there is still a long way to go, says the Centre for Science and Environment in its new report

New Delhi: Experts have repeatedly highlighted that air pollution is one of the leading threats to people’s health which can lead to various ailments like respiratory infections, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, heart diseases among others. IQAir, a Swiss group that measures air quality has recently revealed that India is home to 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities with Delhi being the most polluted capital in the world. In Delhi and the larger National Capital Region (NCR), air pollution levels have consistently remained so high that the region has been at the centre stage of the battle against the rising levels of pollutants. A new report titled ‘Capital Gains-Clean Air Action in Delhi NCR: What next?’ by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi based think tank states that the capital city has done more to curb air pollution than other cities in the country and that has resulted in a reduction of a major pollutant called Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 (particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter) by almost a quarter. However, the report highlights that this is far from enough and Delhi still needs to reduce PM 2.5 further by at least 60 per cent.

Also Read: Government Has Taken Number Of Steps To Bring Down Pollution In Delhi: Union Environment Minister

While talking to NDTV, Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director at Centre for Science and Environment and one of the authors of the report said,

We have seen more action in Delhi simply because of more bottom-up pressure. Delhi’s clean air action had started sometime during the mid-nineties. Since then, judicial intervention, civil society action, sharper public opinion, and executive action have come together to catalyse more local solutions. This experience represents an important learning curve for other regions battling air pollution. However, after taking all the extra steps like restricting truck entry, shutting coal power plants and others, Delhi has bent the pollution curve, but it still has to go a long way to meet the clean air standards.

The report said that to reduce air pollution, Delhi has taken steps like closing coal power plants, stopping dirty fuels, scaling up industrial use of natural gas, putting the entire public transport and commercial fleets on compressed natural gas (CNG), banning old vehicles, restricting truck entry, pushing for electric vehicles and skipping a Bharat Stage standard (emission standards instituted by the Government of India to regulate the output of air pollutants from) and adopting BS VI, tightening control on construction, promoting bio-decomposer developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) that dissolves the farm residue into manure, and many other such steps.
Ms. Roychowdhury said that Delhi’s clean air action is an unfinished agenda. It still requires deep action to restrain vehicle numbers and usage, scale up integrated public transport, strengthen city-wide waste management, eliminate use of dirty fuels in small and medium scale units and households among others and all the measures will have to be uniformly scaled up across the NCR, she said.

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Where Is Air Pollution Coming From In Delhi And NCR And What Needs To Be Done To Further Combat It?

In Delhi, as per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) under the Ministry of Earth Science, vehicles contribute to about 41 per cent of PM 2.5 emissions followed by industries that cause around 19 per cent of PM 2.5 emissions, further followed by power generation, residents and winds which contribute to 5 per cent, 3 per cent and 12 per cent respectively of the overall PM 2.5 emissions.

Vehicular Pollution

On vehicular pollution, the report said that government should strengthen periodic auditing of Pollution Under Control (PUC) centres and calibration of equipment and third-party checks. Also, vehicle labelling or sticker programme to identify old and polluting vehicles, as directed by the Supreme Court should be implemented. Stating that Delhi has done well in restricting the entry of diesel trucks, the report said,

NCR cities will also require a well thought out strategy to address heavy duty traffic by rationalising movement patterns, routes and logistic infrastructure, spacing of warehouses/wholesale marts, entry points, and timing.

The report said that Delhi’s bus service reforms must be accelerated.

CSE review has shown how bus ridership in Delhi has declined steadily since 2014 and bus procurement has been considerably delayed in Delhi and needs to be accelerated. While bus numbers fall woefully short of the court mandated 10,000–11,000 buses, there is also a huge service deficit. However, reforms have started to rationalise the routes and improve tracking of services, along with increasing use of electronic ticketing systems and public information system, it said.

Industrial Pollution

Talking about industrial pollution, the report said that Delhi has seen more progress, but that is partly because a lot of industries could be shifted out of Delhi to neighbouring NCR, while continuing to pollute the common airshed. It said,

Delhi requires stringent enforcement of approved fuel notification. Even though Delhi has adopted one of the most progressive clean fuel policies, its implementation remains a challenge as entry and illegal use of dirty fuels in informal industry clusters has continued.

Also Read: World Air Quality Report Highlights: India’s Air Quality Improved In 2020, But 22 of 30 World’s Most Polluted Cities Are In India

Power Plants

According to the report, while Delhi was able to shut coal power generation completely, it is not yet stopped in the NCR. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has identified eleven coal based power plants that are within 300 kilometre of Delhi and are part of the common airshed. The report further said that even though Delhi has closed down all its coal power plants, it needs to ensure that it procures only clean or cleaner electricity from plants that are meeting the standards or are close to meeting the standards. CSE asserted in its report,

Currently, Delhi is procuring electricity from some of the dirtier power plants in the country.

Solid Waste

The report has highlighted the need for better solid waste management and circular economy to reduce waste burning by the residents. It said,

Open burning of waste is a serious source of toxic exposure in the region. This remains a challenge despite the series of central rules and regulations that were announced in 2016 with regard to all waste streams—municipal solid waste, plastics, electronic waste, construction and demolition waste among others.

The report has also called for reducing and recycling the waste generated at construction sites.

It further said that waste management has to be seen as a shared responsibility and not a challenge that needs to be dealt with technology alone.

Crop fires

The smoke from stubble burning after harvests in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab contribute to the winter smog and chokes Delhi every year. Over the last few years the central government, along with the state governments, has developed several plans to control this. But coordinating with millions of farmers to scale up the solutions is challenging, the report said. The report recommends that there is a need of procuring sufficient numbers of stubble management machines and bio-decomposers, providing assistance to farmers in paddy straw management, building stronger policy to promote enterprises that can use the farm waste and create value for the farmers. It has also recommended changes in the cropping patterns to reduce paddy by promoting locally appropriate crops.

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Ways In Which The People Can Contribute Towards Reducing Air Pollution In Delhi-NCR

According to CSE, empowered public opinion in Delhi has enabled early adoption of several important local measures which should be strengthened to implement difficult and inconvenient solutions for speeding up and scaling of change. It emphasised that air pollution is a national health emergency that requires a national framework for air quality management with a strong compliance accountability system. The people can play an important part in combating air pollution in Delhi-NCR in many ways, said Ms. Roychowdhury. She said,

There are so many ways we can all contribute to clean air action. We need to make lifestyle adjustments to walk and cycle more, use public transport to reduce dependence on cars; be part of the community vigilance in our neighbourhoods to stop waste burning and construction without dust control; practice energy efficiency measures at home; push the municipality to collect segregated waste from our households and recycle that, demand action on polluting activities and vehicles in our neighbourhoods, show support when government has to implement inconvenient and difficult measures and there is pushback; access and understand information on air pollution risks for responsible action, and be mindful of not supporting action that pushes pollution to the backyards of the poor people’s neighbourhoods. Change the politics around the issue.

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