Delhi’s Pollution: Are We Doing Enough?

Delhi's air pollution has already moved into critical category. This is not unusual since every year it is the same story. As breathing would become difficult and cloud of smog would cover the city, people would question the administration and this would begin the political blame-game.

What would be lost in the argument and counter-argument would be a dismal failure on the part of administration to prepare for this eventuality and their failure to look for long-term solution as weather and human failures would combine to create life difficult.

As winter approaches and wind speed loses its might, the pollutants gets trapped in the atmosphere. Multiple factors such as vehicle pollution, pollution by industries in the neighbourhood of Delhi, stubble burning by farmers in Haryana contribute to intensify the pollution problems.

Added to that would be festivals such as Diwali. Despite Court ban, firecrackers burning in Delhi cannot be stopped because when defaulters outnumber those who adhere to the law, it becomes a situation of free for all. It is difficult to stop this since it is a part of the cultural process.

There would be a repeat of what we have already witnesses such as experimenting with odd and even number of vehicles plying on Delhi roads on different days, promoting sharing of private vehicles, deploying anti-smog guns to sprinkle waters at select location, putting a ban on construction activities. But these would not be enough unless the wind changes direction and speed and blow away the smog.

One has to wait till Nature breaks the Inversion phenomenon that traps pollutants and does not allow it to disperse vertically. Chance winter rains come as relief and the smog gets cleared. People would desperately wait for the rains to come. In the meantime, manufacturers of air purifiers would have great time to make the best opportunity during the adversity.

When we know this is going to be the situation for three months from October to December, why we do not prepare ourselves. Why can't the capital city be saved? Are we doing enough? Or have we reconciled to just allow the weather to have its toll combined with human failures?

One should try to find out why despite the best network of metros and buses, people still use private vehicles despite getting stuck in heavy traffic that continues throughout the day. Why the number of vehicles are multiplying on Delhi roads? Has the time come to allow only green vehicles on Delhi roads: the vehicles that are either electric vehicles or use only non-polluting fuel. But then, are we having enough CNG petrol pumps to prevent long queues or enough provisions in residential areas for charging points. The government needs to promote these to increase accessibility.

Delhi is blessed that outer ring road encircling Delhi in the form of Eastern and Western periphery is working quite well. It is essential now to create a new norm for vehicles entering Delhi beyond this outer circle. Only non-polluting vehicles should be allowed to enter Delhi via these routes.

One would be surprised why this beautiful city with predominance of youngsters does not have easy negotiable bi-cycle tracks. Riding bi-cycle is a very risky proposition in a city where rash and negligent driving take lives of both drivers and road users on a regular interval.

Construction activities go on throughout the year. The city is witnessing construction of new metro lines, new flyovers and these are know to cause hassles ignoring the protocol that should be followed. Private builders violate the norms with impunity after bribing the system.

Delhi cannot be pollution free if the neighbourhood is not. Merely terming the NCR (National Capital Region) as one but not having a coordinated system in place would not work. The industries adjoining Delhi's neighbourhood- Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and other areas- have industries that follow different polluting norms. Delhi suffers.

Recent studies show that burning of perali or stubble burning in Haryana and Punjab does not contribute much to the pollution in Delhi. While this may be true in terms of average, the fact remains that the pollution level rises also due to perali burning during this period. This certainly makes the atmosphere more dangerous. The State governments in these states and also in Uttar Pradesh need to be more vigilant and unsparing.

Has Delhi's plantation drive kept pace with an even increasing population and vanishing forests. Construction activity is increasing to cater to housing needs of the population. This means less area available for forestation drive. Even the number of water bodies in the city has declined drastically. The lifeline Yamuna river is very polluted. Other water bodies and lakes are bearing the brunt of human waste. It seems none is bothered. Once the city was known for water bodies called Baolis. Many have become extinct.

Addressing these fault-lines would help redress the issue.