Breathless capital: Piecemeal efforts won't solve Delhi's air quality issue

A day after the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) notified stage four of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), there was little noticeable improvement in Delhi’s air quality, with the air quality index, or AQI, exceeding 450 this week. In this regard, the Supreme Court rightly flagged the delay in implementing pollution preventive measures. GRAP-4 includes a ban on entry of truck traffic into Delhi, a strict ban on plying Delhi-registered BS-IV and below diesel-operated medium goods vehicles and heavy goods vehicles, a temporary halt in construction and demolition activities, discontinuing physical classes in educational institutions, and an option to implement 50 per cent strength in offices with the rest to work from home. Obviously, none of these will solve the problem. With pollution levels remaining alarmingly high in the “severe plus” category, the thick grey haze has not only managed to choke the National Capital Region (NCR), but has also disrupted rail and airline operations.

 

There are multiple reasons, including meteorology, why citizens in Delhi and much of north India find themselves in this hopeless situation year after year. Even though stubble burning is a relatively new and seasonal phenomenon, construction dust, fires from burning waste, vehicular emission, and emission from coal-based power plants pose year-round problems. Interestingly, a new study by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) questions the long-held belief that stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana in October-November is the primary cause behind Delhi’s hazardous air quality. The study reveals that thermal power plants in the NCR release 16 times more air pollutants than stubble burning does. Thermal power plants are the only business in the NCR where coal is permitted as a fuel.

 

Nonetheless, the latest data by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) shows that stubble burning accounted for 38 per cent of the NCR’s bad air, its highest share so far in 2024. Vehicular pollution is also a major contributor. Past policy initiatives to limit private vehicles via the odd-even scheme have not yielded significant results. It turns out that transport and industries are two dominant sources of pollution in the city, with all traffic junctions experiencing high emission loads. Evidently, there is no one culprit to blame. In the absence of a long-term solution, restrictive measures such as a construction ban will yield limited benefit with a disproportionate impact on construction workers, who are rendered jobless for weeks if not months. However, the impact will not remain limited to the most vulnerable sections. Public-health problems caused by toxic air will also have wider long-run economic repercussions.

 

Unfortunately, India lacks the political resolve, and public pressure to address the issue is limited for some reason, leaving environmental concerns in the lurch. This is intriguing for a vibrant democracy like India. Consequently, the government has turned to various piecemeal solutions, which have done little to alleviate the problem. Political parties are busy in blame games, affecting much-needed coordination. What is needed is a long-term plan that addresses every single source that is making the NCR and much of north India unliveable. Solutions will have to be found, whether it is stubble burning, vehicular pollution, or smoke coming out of thermal power plant chimneys. This will need a whole-of-government approach with the apex court keeping up the pressure and influential citizens in civil society keeping a tab on the progress. Short-term economic interests should not be allowed to override the basic right to life of common citizens.