Delhi Pollution: An Unsolvable Riddle?

Introduction

One can find the line, ‘smoking is injurious to health’ on the cigarette packs. However, the line, ‘breathing can be injurious to health’, holds equal truth and significance for the residents of Delhi. Some reports indicate that even non-smokers inhale air equivalent to smoking around 50 cigarettes per day. In Subhas Kumar v State of Bihar (1991), the Supreme Court held that the right to get pollution-free water and air is a fundamental right of citizens under the ambit of the Right to Life mentioned in Article 21, yet it is hardly given any serious consideration by the government. For over a decade, Delhi has remained one of the most polluted cities in the world. It arrests the attention of the media, opposition, and activists every year as winter descends. The unprecedented Air Quality Index (AQI) during this time makes it a catchy and critical issue every year, but just for two to three months. As the AQI improves a bit, the issue gets dropped from everyone’s mind, even the opposition and policymakers forget it. The AQI mark touches a new record every year. 

This time, there were protests at the India Gate, and even opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) staged a protest in parliament regarding Delhi pollution. Nevertheless, this has now become a routine. Every party protests against the pollution when they are in opposition, but all fail to provide a solution when they come into power. Delhi has experienced the rule of all the three major parties here—the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the last one and a half decades. Yet, none provided actual relief from the crisis; only empty promises came out of them.

In a comprehensive sense, the issue is way more multifaceted and complex than it appears. It encompasses socioeconomic, geographical, and demographic factors that collectively hinder the advancement in tackling the crisis. To understand these factors and their health and economic implications, one needs to explore the sources, nature, and primary causes of the air pollution in Delhi. Carrying out a parallel comparative study of countries that have overcome the crisis can provide a way forward for policymakers.

The Air Pollution in Delhi: An Overview

The key pollutants contributing to Delhi’s pollution include the particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO). PM 2.5 and PM 10 come from vehicular and industrial emissions and construction activities, and are severely dangerous due to their capacity to penetrate into the lungs and blood vessels. Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), which help in forming ground-level ozone and smog, are primarily emitted by vehicles and power plants. Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) emissions are largely the result of oil and coal combustion in power plants and industrial units. Although the air remains polluted throughout the year, the city experiences a thick layer of smog during the winter when farmers in Punjab and Haryana burn their crop residue in the October-November period, and the smoke from this stubble burning reaches Delhi. Also, the temperature and fog present in the air trap the pollutants close to the surface, forming a blanket of smog (smoke plus fog) during winters. While there have been some controls over nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, the particulate matter has consistently been on the rise, remaining the key element in Delhi’s pollution.

A study by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in 2018 revealed that only 36 per cent of particulate matter present in the city in winter, and 26 per cent present in the summer, originates from the city itself; the rest comes from the neighbouring states. Thus, tackling Delhi’s pollution is not just a responsibility of the Delhi government. Its neighbouring states of Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh,  and cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) that fall under the same airshed—the area where the same air blows—also need to develop the same zeal to overcome the crisis.

Undertaken Policy Measures

Initial steps towards tackling pollution in Delhi were driven by Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Supreme Court. In M C Mehta v Union of India, the Supreme Court established the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA), which drew its authority from the court, to tackle pollution in the NCR. With time and increasing pollution, both the Central government and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) have rolled out various policy measures to combat the crisis. 

The Odd-Even Vehicle Rationing Scheme, rolled out in 2016, aimed at reducing vehicular emissions by allowing vehicles with odd-numbered license plates on odd-numbered days and vice versa. It was implemented periodically during the peak pollution time, often in October-November. In 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) notified the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is currently responsible for its implementation across the NCR. The GRAP is an emergency response mechanism for the entire NCR, based on average AQI levels. It has been classified under four different stages, which contain a set of dos and don’ts when it is rolled out. Stage I is poor (AQI 201–300), Stage II is very poor (AQI 301–400), Stage III is severe (AQI 401–500), and Stage IV is extremely severe (AQI > 500). The measures under GRAP include a ban on construction activities, truck entry restrictions, industrial shutdowns, and a ban on certain vehicles. 

Technological intervention, like the adoption of Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission standards in 2020, mandates cleaner fuels and technologically advanced vehicles with significantly lower NOx and other emissions. Mechanised road sweeping, anti-smog guns, and sprinklers have been deployed to limit dust particles in the air. The government’s effort to expand the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles is also a crucial step in this direction. While these measures provided some relief, they could not mitigate the larger concern, largely due to improper implementation and lack of coordination between the involved stakeholders.

Comparative Study with Mexico and Beijing: How did they tackle the crisis?

A comparative study of other cities that once faced the same crisis of severe air pollution can be a helpful insight for Delhi’s path forward in overcoming the issue of unbreathable air. Most of the developed cities, such as London, Los Angeles, Beijing, and Mexico City, confronted similar crises, and most of them have largely overcome the issue through time-bound measures, prompt policies, and pinpoint implementation. Delhi has distinct geographic and atmospheric conditions from most of the megacities in the world. Delhi falls under a basin-like structure framed by the Aravalli hills and the Himalayas, which restricts air movement and traps pollutants in the city. However, the cases of Beijing and Mexico City have somewhat similar geographical conditions. 

Mexico City’s geography—its location on a plateau surrounded by mountains, and atmospheric conditions played a key role in aggravating the city’s air pollution. Strong winds would bring the dirty air from a dry lake bed to the city, worsening the city’s air. In response, the city introduced the Management Programme to Improve Air Quality (ProAire) in 1990. This included strict measures for vehicular emissions, setting up a supply of unleaded petrol, which is cleaner as it does not have lead additives, expansion of metro networks, and introduction of catalytic converters in vehicles, which convert toxic emissions into less harmful substances through chemical reaction. 

Beijing has a similar topography, surrounded by mountains to the west, north, and northeast. It also faced the same crisis. Around 2005, when Beijing was to host the Olympics three years later, it was notoriously famous as the ‘smog capital of the world.’ The city’s AQI frequently touched the 500 mark. The year 2013 marked a turning point when the Chinese government announced a five-year action plan targeting the severe air pollution in the city and its surrounding regions. It implemented strict emissions standards. It adopted a unified airshed strategy in collaboration with its neighbouring provinces of Hebei and Tianjin. Pollution control measures were implemented collaboratively by surrounding regions, and all major industries were moved out of the city’s airshed. The extensive electrification of public transit stands out as the most spectacular step by the Chinese government in reducing emissions. China currently owns more than 90 per cent of the world’s electric buses. The steps and their strict implementation have significantly contributed to the improved Air Quality Index of the city. According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), air pollution in China has fallen by 42 per cent between 2013 and 2021. 

A Pragmatic Approach

Ideas are the slaves of none, and no one has any copyright on them. Though the context and environment for its application are distinct, the fitting ideas can be fruitfully implemented at various places. India can tread on the strategies employed by various cities that were once entangled in the same problem. However, geographical factors become vital before borrowing the ideas to tackle the issues related to air pollution. China and Mexico City’s trajectories could be closely monitored and employed by Indian policymakers with required adaptations. Comprehensive long-term plans, such as China’s five-year plan in 2013, can provide positive long-term solutions. The plan may include drawing out industries from the region’s airshed to other cities and the development of the new cities to curb overcrowding. India does not lack environmental policies; it lacks efficiency and coordination among the involved executives. India currently has a fragmented structure of implementation of pollution-related policies. It involves various central government bodies, pollution control boards, Delhi government organs, and municipal authorities, which ultimately complicates the coordination in implementation. China’s top-down approach, with vertical hierarchical flow of directions and elimination of discretion of various involved bodies, might prove to be more effective and solve implementation complexities. This is an era of sustainability, and major countries of the world are already making large strides in that aspect. China’s extensive electrification of its transport system has contributed significantly to tackling Beijing’s pollution. The government should focus on expanding the number of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the city and broadening the metro network in the city. The current high costs of EVs can be addressed by the policy of government incentives for EV vehicles. The government also needs to focus on increasing the number of EV charging stations.  

Most importantly, the government needs to oversee the staffing and funding problems faced by the pollution control boards. In a reply to the question of vacancies in the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs), MoEFCC said that a total of 5,671 posts out of 11,562 sanctioned posts are lying vacant. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is also reported to have 16.28 per cent vacancies. These vacancies lead to an overload of work on the people involved in the pollution mitigation activities, leading to inefficiency and improper implementation. The government shall not just focus on filling these vacancies. It must also increase the number of staff involved in these boards and committees to propel efficiency and stricter implementation, especially in the region of NCR, which is the hotspot of the crisis.

Conclusion

The developing trajectories of the major cities of the world highlight that air pollution is a common misfortune that every city has to confront. The challenges of a growing population, expanding urbanisation, and rising industrialisation invite aggravating air pollution, which can ultimately hamper the core of the socio-economic upliftment, pushing the region decades behind other cities in this competitive era of development. Health impacts of air pollution, such as causing respiratory issues (asthma, bronchitis), cardiovascular problems (heart attacks, strokes, hypertension), lung cancer, neurological damage, and reproductive issues, are well-known to the public. The underlying impact can be seen after understanding the link between public health and economic development. 

Demography is the driver of any economy and is considered the most pivotal resource for a growing economy. Health issues to the public can directly impact the economic prosperity of the region, as it leads to the destruction of human capital—the most crucial aspect of the economy. The high level of pollution can disincentivise private and foreign investments in the region, ultimately affecting the economy at its root. Tackling the crisis is the need of the hour for the government and requires a prompt action plan. The government alone cannot do all required to overcome this crisis. Understanding of the responsibility by the citizens, along with their passionate participation, is pivotal in tackling the extensive impact of the problem, as evident in the case of cities that have been successful in this regard. 

Thus, the positive achievements by Beijing and other cities emphasise that this crisis can be overcome only with swift and strict government actions, their effective execution, along with the cooperation of involved stakeholders and citizens.

The author, Sanish Kumar, is an Assistant Editor at Ramjas Political Review.