Dangerously high levels of air pollution keep Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR) locked in a state of health emergency. When citizens gasp for breath, only ineffectual emergency measures are offered as the magic remedy during winter. It is time to challenge this obsession with short-term measures like road sweeping, water sprinkling and bans on construction, old vehicles and waste-burning. This stokes the rhetoric but does not clean up the air.
The challenge is to de-link the pollution curve from the urban and industrial growth in this region. This requires systemic changes to bridge the gaps in action and also upscale action across the Indo-Gangetic Plain to reduce the influence of transboundary movement of pollution.
It is important to acknowledge that there are no quick-fix solutions. Even in the past, Delhi could bend its pollution curve only with consistent targeting of dirty diesel in transport and coal in power plants and industries that required massive restructuring of the energy systems and natural gas-based infrastructure development.
When winter action plans are flagged annually, there are barely ever any sector-wise report cards on the progress against the sectoral targets. It is not highlighted how the requirements of the comprehensive round-the-year action plans are integrated with the regulatory targets and the resource provisions to match the scale of implementation.
Delhi cannot shy away from addressing the systemic solutions. To curb vehicular pollution, which accounts for nearly half of all local pollution sources during winter, Delhi requires a vehicle segment-wise mandate for zero emissions electric vehicle uptake and disincentives for internal combustion engines with enablers. Even this will not suffice unless Delhi meets its Master Plan target of meeting 80 per cent of its travel demand with integrated public transport systems. For example, increasing the number of electric buses without improving service and ridership cannot help.
Huge funds are being diverted towards car-centric road infrastructure, including flyovers and wide roads that lock in car congestion and pollution. This funding requires repurposing to align with transit-oriented development with walkable and cyclable neighbourhoods and effective pricing of roads and parking spaces for vehicles.
Similarly, to curb industrial emissions that also rank high during winter, address the bottlenecks to implementation of the approved clean fuels with a favourable pricing policy and promote electrification of industrial processes wherever technically feasible. Small-scale units need more innovative solutions while ensuring inventory and accounting of their energy mix and processes. Also curb industrial waste burning and fugitive emissions from industrial material storage and crushers.
Even though coal-based power generation has stopped in Delhi, the electricity demand is still largely met through power sourced from coal-based plants outside the city. This requires increased sourcing of clean power while cleaning up power generation across the region.
Waste will continue to burn if the municipal bodies do not collect and segregate 100 per cent of household waste. Delhi requires massive expansion in waste processing capacity, including composting and compressed biogas generation to feed the CNG network, while phasing out mixed-feed-based waste-to-energy systems. While remediating legacy waste, ensure 80 per cent of the fresh waste is processed and diverted from landfills.
There is also a need for a mandate for the uptake of recycled products. For instance, Delhi has recycling plants for construction and demolition waste, but a regulatory mandate has to ensure at least 10-20 per cent uptake of recycled material in all new public and private construction. The most challenging is clean energy access in poor households, as consistent use of subsidised LPG is still unaffordable. Night shelters and rental housing for migrants also need support for LPG-connected kitchens.
The bottom line is we know what to do. But regulatory mandates, compliance requirements and fiscal enablers are not strong enough to align public spending and private investments in urban infrastructure with clean air objectives. We know the way but lack the will or the imagination to implement it.
The writer is executive director, Research and Advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi
