Cleaning Delhi’s air — and that of other Indian cities — requires all-year-round action.
Nov 20, 2024 04:10 IST First published on: Nov 20, 2024 at 04:10 IST
Delhi’s never-ending troubles with air pollution invite two questions. Is the problem really as intractable as it has been made to appear by policymakers? Or, is poor policy at the root of the crisis? There can be no denying that the city’s air quality is a product of the complex interplay of several variables — particulate matter from tailpipe of vehicles, toxins from waste and biomass burning, industrial emissions, the city’s geography and farm fires in neighbouring states. The problem cannot be resolved by working in silos. However, this fundamental policy requirement seems to have become an alibi for inaction, especially by the Delhi government and the Centre. Almost every year, as people in the capital and its vicinity choke on air that would be deemed hazardous by the WHO — in India, it’s described somewhat less stringently as “severe” — government agencies, ministers and politicians try to evade accountability by sparring with each other. This year, too, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi has faulted the Centre and the governments of neighbouring states, while the BJP has called out the AAP government. The Supreme Court has issued strict directions to the Centre and the Delhi government. However, by now it should be clear that the emergency mode offers, at best, a limited solution. Cleaning Delhi’s air — and that of other Indian cities — requires all-year-round action.
There is now considerable information on the variables linked to the capital’s pollution. Studies by the Centre for Science and Environment, IIT Delhi and Kanpur, TERI, the National Institute of Advanced Studies and government agencies such as the CPCB have disaggregated the role of different polluting sources. Research organisations have sometimes differed on the share of these pollutants. There might also be variations at different locations in the city, and in the daily, weekly or monthly averages, but the major sources of pollution are now well identified. Most studies have underlined the need for cleaner modes of commuting, increased use of public transport, greater scrutiny over industrial emissions, and incentivising households to transition to green cooking fuels. Some of these solutions require long-term action, while others can be achieved in a year or two. But information is only an enabler — it’s meant to facilitate action. Despite all the attention that Delhi’s smog has got, there is no trend in air quality which shows that efforts are being made to tackle the problem over the long term — or even the short term.
In 2021, the Centre set up the Commission For Air Quality Management (CAQM) to coordinate the work of different pollution control bodies. The organisation’s mandate was prescient given that experts today underline the salience of the airshed approach — instead of looking at pollution as a city or state-level problem, policymakers need to identify larger hotspots of poor air. But in the past three years, the CAQM has mostly functioned as a regulator that comes into play when Delhi’s Emergency Graded Action Plan is in force. The policy-making deficit is also a fallout of a larger shortcoming: Despite the toll it takes, Delhi’s bad air is never an election issue. This apathy must end.
