Carmakers wary of rising Delhi pollution

With winters round the corner, air quality in the capital is beginning to deteriorate

The car manufacturing industry is recording double-digit sales growth in the domestic market but there is a concern. With winter nearing, air quality in the capital is beginning to deteriorate.

This is the same issue that had triggered a ban on diesel vehicle sales in the National Capital Region last December, upsetting the industry's growth plans. Toyota and Mercedes were hit the most.

Last December, the Supreme Court imposed a ban on registration of diesel cars with engine capacity of 2,000cc and above. The ban was lifted in August, after manufacturers agreed to pay a one per cent cess. The SC also directed all taxis run by service aggregators, such as Ola and Uber, to convert from diesel to compressed natural gas. And, a surcharge was imposed on heavy diesel vehicles entering the capital.

The city government was also directed to take steps to curb dust from construction and to prevent the burning of waste. In January, the Union government decided to skip Bharat Stage-V emission norms and move the industry directly from BS-IV to BS-VI from April 2020. And, the Delhi government experimented with fortnightly odd-even number plying for cars twice in this year.

Months later, not much has improved. IndiaSpend's network of air-quality sensors reported fine-particulate matter (PM2.5) levels were almost four times above daily safe levels, on average, for the seven-day period from September 22 to 28. A World Health Organization report recently listed Delhi as the worst among mega cities on pollution parameters.

“The citizen of Delhi is breathing the same bad air as last year. The disease has been diagnosed but correct treatment is yet to happen. If further action is taken against the automobile industry, it will not treat the problem,” says R C Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki, the country's largest car maker.  

An IIT-Kanpur report states the contribution of road dust to particulate matter or PM2.5 in Delhi is the largest at 38 per cent, followed by vehicles (20 per cent), domestic fuel burning (12 per cent) and industry (11 per cent). The rest comes from diesel generator sets, construction, etc. Of the 20 per cent contribution from vehicles, trucks account for 46 per cent, two-wheelers for 33 per cent and passenger cars for 10 per cent. Vehicles complying with BS-IV standards, registration of which was banned, contribute 0.5 per cent to total PM2.5 emission in Delhi, the industry had argued.

The car manufacturing industry is apprehensive that once the pollution problem worsens, they will again come under attack. “Going after cars will divert the attention from the real problem and factors of pollution in the capital. Emission levels of cars has been improving, year after year. We request the decision makers to look at the prominent sources of pollution and address them,” said Sugato Sen, deputy director general at the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers.
 

The pollution problem in Delhi is seasonal. With winters, meteorological conditions such as wind and low temperature results in concentration of particulate matter. The crop residue burning in neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana is also a factor.