Will you still read this in June?

Many citizens get very angry every winter over air pollution. Others despair. But to what end, if anger dissipates and despair is short-lived?

Between 1800 and 2100 hours on November 7, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) for particulate matter (PM) 2.5 averaged 161. By midnight, average AQI had reached 597; north Delhi marked 1,009. Delhi celebrated Diwali with firecrackers with much gusto. The irony was lost on many who wore pollution masks while at it. Was this mass uncivil disobedience? Was this fatalism, a collective resignation to poor air quality? Was it apathy? 

Although a year-round hazard, air pollution peaks every winter in north India. In the National Capital Region (NCR), knives come out with timely precision. Citizens blame local authorities; the Delhi and central governments spar over jurisdiction and enforcement; and NCR residents blame neighbouring states. 

In the search for the quick and simple, many solutions seem viable at first glance but falter in practice. Why?

In controlling emissions, say, from transport or industry, authorities choose between raising standards and a fuel switch. Raising standards requires retrofitting plants with filters and scrubbers. Polluters drag their feet, blaming high costs, or point fingers at other laggards. Regulatory sticks work better if plant owners can pass higher costs on to consumers. Without that carrot, power plants have missed past deadlines to meet air quality standards. 

When standards do not improve, regulators try fuel switching, such as when public transport in Delhi converted to compressed natural gas (CNG) in 2001. More recently, pet coke was banned in the NCR, with some exceptions. These measures work when industries or vehicles are denied access to dirty fuels and when cleaner fuels are sufficiently available. Nearly two decades later, CNG supplies remain hamstrung by infrastructure bottlenecks. 

Then, there are limitations in the enforcement capacity. Catching culprits is easier with fewer point sources of pollution. Even then, state and central pollution control boards have to act. Directions from the Supreme Court, the National Green Tribunal, or the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority are only as good as they are followed.

The reality on the ground is complex. Take brick kilns. They were ordered to convert to zig-zag technology (for efficient combustion) to continue operating in the NCR. But pollution control officials complain that even if they flooded a kiln with water, the same would get pumped out after a few days. Worse, politically-connected kiln owners file lawsuits against officials to intimidate them.

The tragedy with firecrackers is similar. The Supreme Court mandated only “green crackers”, certified by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation. With testing still underway, there were no alternatives in the market but firecrackers continued to be sold (this columnist found warehouses in unauthorised industrial areas selling them wholesale). Given this, either all firecrackers should have been banned, or citizens should have abstained voluntarily. 

Moreover, regulation is susceptible to top-down policy shifts. In 2013, China declared a “war on pollution”. Using command-and-control, it created a strong Environment Protection Agency and banned many industrial activities in easier-to-target state-owned enterprises. PM2.5 levels dropped by more than a quarter in Beijing between 2013 and 2016. But smog has returned to northern China. In order to prime a slowing economy, the government relaxed curbs on coal and steel production this season and lowered targets to reduce pollution levels. The same mechanisms that suspended polluting activities also enabled a U-turn when economic growth took priority. 

This is why the role of citizens is critical. Unless pressure from citizens remains unabated, even ostensibly strong top-down governance fails. What can citizens do?

First, be prepared to pay a price. Air pollution is one of the worst public health dangers. Are we prepared to pay for higher priced vehicles using BS-VI fuel, or dearer electricity from cleaner power plants, in exchange for lengthening our and our children’s lifespans?

Second, citizens have a role in monitoring. While officials can do spot inspections of polluting industries or dust-spewing construction sites, whack-a-mole approaches to control pollution seldom work. Offenders return to business as usual when enforcement agencies turn their sights elsewhere. Effective regulation is a combination of “police patrols” and “fire alarms”. Unless vigilant citizens raise the alarm and unless officials respond, regulations or bans will not succeed. 

Third, have empathy for fellow citizens. In China, when authorities confiscated makeshift coal heaters (used in rural areas or by migrant workers), thousands of poor households suffered from the cold due to gas shortage. We observe similar challenges in the NCR when residential areas offer few options to night guards to stay warm. 

Equally, it is easy to demonise farmers for burning paddy stubble. It is harder to understand that our agricultural policies encourage paddy cultivation in the north, resulting in groundwater overuse, forcing delayed crop sowing, delayed harvesting, and a small timeframe within which farmers have to clear their fields before planting the wheat crop. 

Fourth, change our lifestyles. Limited availability of public transport and last mile connectivity are frustrating. But the choice to buy smaller, less polluting private vehicles is personal. Household waste segregation and recycling, to reduce waste burning and dumping in landfills (another source of emissions), is again within the control of individuals and resident welfare associations. 

None of this absolves officialdom of its responsibility. But it is our collective apathy that takes pressure off of our elected representatives, the bureaucracy and enforcement agencies. Many citizens get very angry every winter. Others despair. But to what end, if anger dissipates and despair is short-lived? Here is a test: Would we even read an article on air pollution in June? 

The writer is CEO, Council on Energy, Environment and Water and member, Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority

Twitter: @GhoshArunabha; @CEEWIndia