A new report by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) states that though Delhi has to reduce the level of a major pollutant in the air by 60%, the city has done more to curb air pollution than other cities in the country.
The report ‘Capital Gains-Clean Air Action in Delhi NCR: What next?’, lays down a roadmap on what the national capital and NCR towns should be doing to curb air pollution in the region.The measures to be taken range from changes in cropping patterns to reduce cultivation of paddy and from minimising stubble burning to scaling up pedestrianisation in high footfall areas to create low emissions zones.
“Delhi has seen it [PM2.5] drop by almost a quarter. But even after this drop, Delhi has to reduce the three-year running annual average of PM2.5 by yet another 60%,” it said.
Talking about industrial pollution, the report said that Delhi has seen more progress, but that is partly because a lot of industries could be shifted out of Delhi to neighbouring NCR, while continuing to “pollute” the common airshed.
“Delhi requires stringent enforcement of approved fuel notification. Even though Delhi has adopted one of the most progressive clean fuel policies, its implementation remains a challenge as entry and illegal use of dirty fuels in informal industry clusters has continued,” the report read.
The report said that Delhi have closed down all its coal power plants, but it has to ensure that it procures only clean or cleaner electricity from plants that are meeting the standards or are close to meeting the standards. “Currently, Delhi is procuring electricity from some of the dirtier power plants in the country,” the report said.
Stating that Delhi has done well in restricting the entry of diesel trucks, the report said: “NCR cities will also require a well thought out strategy to address heavy duty traffic by rationalising movement patterns, routes and logistic infrastructure, spacing of warehouses/wholesale marts, entry points, and timing.”
On vehicular pollution, it said that government should strengthen periodic auditing of Pollution Under Control (PUC) centres and calibration of equipment and third-party checks. Also, vehicle labelling or sticker programme to identify old and polluting vehicles, as directed by the Supreme Court should be implemented.
The report said that Delhi’s bus service reforms must be “accelerated”. “CSE review has shown how bus ridership in Delhi has declined steadily since 2014 and bus procurement has been considerably delayed in Delhi and needs to be accelerated. While bus numbers fall woefully short of the court mandated 10,000–11,000 buses, there is also a huge service deficit. However, reforms have started to rationalise the routes and improve tracking of services, along with increasing use of electronic ticketing systems and public information system,” it said.
