Above: A grey haze over a busy road/Photo: UNI

Despite Delhi falling in the “severe” to “poor” category for more than 300 days a year, civic authorities are lax in taking corrective steps

By Papia Samajdar

In the war against air pollution, civic authorities should be leading from the front. But their attitude in the Capital has been nothing short of callous. This was the conclusion drawn at a meeting held in early June by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) to check the status of implementation of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), under which authorities in Delhi are supposed to take measures for its air quality.

One of the major issues noted by EPCA was the lack of adequate progress in the installation of toll booths aimed at controlling the entry of commercial vehicles into Delhi. The Supreme Court had on August 22, 2016, directed the Delhi government to install Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFIDs) at 13 entry points into the Capital, to be monitored by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). The order came in the light of a public interest litigation filed by MC Mehta in 1985 seeking to control air pollution in Delhi.

The following entry points were identified for installation of booths: Kapasera, Aya Nagar, Tigri, Shahdara Main, Shahdara Flyover, Kundli, Rajokri, Ghazipur (old), Ghazipur (main), DND, Kalindi Kunj, Badarpur and Badarpur (flyover).

It is from these 13 entry points, out of the total 127, that 80 percent of the commercial traffic enters Delhi. Rules for pre-registration of vehicles have been laid down by the SDMC in consultation with the EPCA. Under the rules, certain categories of vehicles were granted exemption, including those fitted with CNG engines, milk tankers, oil tankers carrying petroleum products, water tankers, ambulances and fire engines.

At the consultation meeting, Sunita Narain, member, EPCA, reminded the stakeholders that the project had missed several deadlines even as she reiterated the need to stick to the new deadline of July 4, 2019. From July 10, 2019, no commercial vehicle without RFID will be allowed to enter Delhi. While eight booths have been installed with the RFID readers, five are still pending. All manual booths that are still operational have been ordered to be shut down.

Ironic as it is, the SDMC officials claim that the delay in the completion of installation of the new infrastructure was due to the fact that all construction activities at night in the winter months of 2018 were stopped as per the directions of the EPCA. As trucks carrying concrete mix entered Delhi only after 11 pm, work could not be undertaken until the restrictions on construction activities were lifted.

The toll booths are to be set up with the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) corpus at a cost of Rs 125 crore over the next five years. The booths will collect the tax and the ECC funds from the vehicles through automated RFID devices. An estimated Rs 432 crore would be collected per annum following the installation. The automated toll booths will ensure smooth entry of trucks, reducing congestion and thus vastly cutting down the pollution caused by the slow-moving traffic.

According to a study published by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), trucks are the biggest polluters in Delhi, contributing up to 45 percent of the total particulate emissions from vehicles. The study showed clear trends of an upswing in pollution during the movement of heavy trucks. Time and again, the courts have stepped in to check the uncontrolled pollution, but progress has been slow.

In 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) slapped on Delhi the dubious distinction of being the most polluted city in the world. That year, Delhi remained in the “severely polluted” category. The Capital accounts for about 80 deaths daily due to air pollution. In 2018, Delhi had a total of only five days when its air was categorised as “good quality”; nearly a quarter of the year (92 days) saw “severe” air quality, 145 days were “poor”, 57 days “very poor”, while on 66 days the air quality was classified as “moderate”.

WHO data shows that in 2018, air pollution killed an average 8.5 out of 10,000 children before they turned even five. This makes outdoor pollution the fifth largest killer. According to the study “Addressing Global Mortality from Ambient PM 2.5”, published in 2015, 45 percent of the premature deaths in Delhi could have been stalled with proper preventive measures.

Air pollution is also known to cause birth defects and fatalities during pregnancies, damage to the cardiovascular system of unborn babies, childhood depression and anxiety, apart from respiratory diseases, heart conditions and heightened risk of heart stroke.

The recent trends are proof that poor air quality is not a winter phenomenon anymore and that summers are equally grim. The summer of 2019 has been particularly harsh with air dipping into the “severe” category and “very poor” category due to westerly winds, stubble burning in neighbouring states and forest fires in Uttarakhand. Alarmingly, a recent analysis released by CSE revealed the rise of another pollutant in Delhi-NCR: ozone. It has been the dominant pollutant in the area, being higher than the prescribed standard in 16 percent of the days this summer, up from only five percent last year. The analysis was based on the data that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) publishes daily.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, at CSE, sees this as a worrying trend. “Ozone is not directly emitted from any source. Other gases emitted through vehicles and industries react in high temperatures to create ozone,” she says. The intense heat wave spiked the amount of ozone this summer. Ozone is known to heighten the severity of respiratory issues. “Given the situation, it is important to control emissions from vehicles and industries aggressively,” she added.

According to Bhure Lal, chairperson, EPCA, combatting air pollution requires long-term and drastic measures. The long-term action plans include controlling vehicular pollution by promoting electrical vehicles and public transport and controlling trucks and commercial vehicles from entering Delhi and implementing the Environmental Compensation Charge. Other measures such as registering only Bharat VI vehicles by April 2020, phasing out older vehicles, managing construction and demolition waste have been outlined in the detailed plan submitted by the EPCA to the Supreme Court. However, implementation of these measures has been lax and multiple deadlines have been flouted by the authorities even as the severity of air pollution continues to rise.

In November 2018, Lal had urged Dr Prashant Gargava, Member Secretary, CPCB and Chair of GRAP Task Force, to consider the ban on all private vehicles barring only those running on CNG. However, given the state of public transport, this plea was turned town.

On June 18, 2019, Niti Ayog moved a cabinet note proposing a complete transition to electric vehicles by 2030. But Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of road transportation and highways, said that the phasing out of diesel and petrol vehicles will be decided only after discussion with the automobile industry.

With air quality, particularly in Delhi, in the “poor” category much of the year, the time for talks may be running out and action is needed. As Roychowdhury says: “We need to act now and arrest the problem now, else it will grow into a health emergency.”