New Delhi: Delhi is in the grip of deadly air pollution, with PM 2.5 reading consistently remaining in the hazardous zone for many days. The state government has taken several steps to combat pollution, which worsens in the winter season because of temperature inversion and absence of strong winds. So schools will remain closed even after the on-going Diwali holidays. Government offices have been asked to operate with 50% staff working from homes and the Odd-Even scheme, which will restrict private four wheelers from plying on roads, applicable from November 13.How bad is Delhi’s air?
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On Tuesday morning, the air quality index (AQI) was in the “very poor” category after five consecutive days of being severe, at 394. The concentration of PM2.5 – fine particulate matter capable of penetrating deep into the respiratory system and triggering health problems – exceeded the government-prescribed safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre by seven to eight times. And it was 30 to 40 times the healthy limit of 15 micrograms per cubic metre set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The pollutants: Vehicular emissions and industrial emissions appear to be neck and neck in the pollution chart. IIT Kanpur Professor and Member of the Steering Committee of the National Clean Air Program, Sachchida Nand Tripathi, told ETAuto that vehicular emissions account for 25-30% of PM 2.5 in the city’s air. In other words, vehicular emissions are at least one fourth of the problem. The other major pollution sources include industrial emissions, whose share is high but not always quantifiable since these emissions are difficult to measure, and farm fires – which happen when farmers in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan burn stubble to prepare their fields for planting new crops – account for another sizable portion of emissions at almost 30% currently.Gaps in pollution fight: Apart from shutting down schools and reducing work trips, the Delhi government has taken some more measures since the PM 2.5 reached hazardous levels. These include restricting the entry of commercial vehicles at the borders unless they operate on CNG or are electric, banning construction activity and sprinkling water in hotspots to help the dust settle down.
But, several gaps in Delhi’s pollution management strategy remain. To begin with, the pollution mitigation plan lacks adequate number of air monitoring stations as well as qualified staff. The city also appears to be banking on measures (such as the odd-even scheme) which have a limited efficacy in reducing harmful emissions, Sachchida Nand Tripathi, told ETAuto.
A study co-authored by Tripathi in 2017, titled “Traffic intervention policy fails to mitigate air pollution in megacity Delhi” analysed the impact of the odd-even scheme first introduced in 2016 for 15 days. The reduction in PM 2.5 (one of the most harmful pollutants) was 4-6%, with a maximum of up to 10% in three hotspots. This, the study said, was “within the uncertainty range of satellite estimates”. Odd-Even scheme restricts the number of private four wheelers on Delhi’s roads for a specified period.
Instead of banking on such restrictions, Tripathi has suggested hyper-local monitoring of pollution. While the number of sensors monitoring pollution across Delhi has increased to about 40 from just three in 2015, many more such sites need to come up. “We are going ahead with installing monitoring apparatus in every block in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which means 1400 sensors will be installed. Delhi also needs hyper-local monitoring,” Tripathi said.
He has also suggested induction of more scientists, engineers and other qualified personnel be recruited for the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).
Meanwhile the Supreme Court has said this morning that stubble burning should be stopped in Delhi and neighbouring state and the Chief Secretaries of these states should meet to chalk out a plan to combat pollution.
Neighbours also must pitch in: Delhi’s pollution source is not just local. Farm fires happen in neighbouring states and there are many other sources of pollution across Delhi’s borders which impact the city’s air. Gufran Beig, chair professor at NIAS and Founder of SAFAR, says that what the neighbours need to do is adopt an “airshed” approach. “The airshed area is about 100-150 km from Delhi’s borders. This is beyond what we call Delhi-NCR and in the air shed areas, all the measures the Delhi government is adopting should be replicated,” Beig said. This would mean Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana should also shut down polluting industries, reduce vehicular pollution and contain farm fires.
R Subramanian, Sector Head Air Quality at the Centre for Study of Science, Technology & Policy, prescribed an even more drastic solution: “Given the current weather conditions, Delhi needs to stop all non-EV private vehicles and freight transport, increase free electric/CNG public transport and shut down polluting industries to tackle the current health emergency”.
Well-meaning advice but easier said than done.
OEMs turning green: Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest car maker, has already decided that it will have a largely green portfolio by 2030-31. It will have a bouquet of clean fuel vehicles – battery electric vehicles, strong hybrids, vehicles which operate on flex fuel technology, on compressed natural gas (CNG) and compressed biogas (CBG). Rahul Bharti, Executive Officer (Corporate Affairs) had said earlier that every car sold by the company from FY31 will be fitted with a carbon reduction technology. “Anywhere between 15-20% of our portfolio will be BEVs, 25% will comprise strong hybrids and the remaining will be a mix of vehicles powered by CNG, biofuel or other technologies to improve ICE engines. There will hardly be any pure-play gasoline ICE vehicle by then.”
Ashok Leyland, the truck and bus maker, is focused on product decarbonisation besides working on alternative fuel trucks as well as the ‘Boss’ range of electric vehicles.
Tata Motors has showcased hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses. The ACE electric light commercial vehicles are already being sold. And Shailesh Chandra, MD Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, pointed out that the deteriorating air quality in NCR, Mumbai and several other cities across the country underscores the urgent need to accelerate EV adoption. EVs provide zero tailpipe emission.
Altigreen is already selling battery electric three wheelers for inter and intra city transport. And in the two wheeler space too, a raft of electric vehicles are already available.
Anant Badjatya, CEO of SUN Mobility, quoted a CSE survey to show that emissions from two, three and four-wheeled vehicles accounted for more than half of Delhi’s particulate pollution. He urged the government and the industry to encourage commuters to switch to electric vehicles. SUN offers battery swapping solutions and has over 400 swap stations across Delhi-NCR.
Public transport
Anumita RoyChowdhury, Executive Director (research & advocacy) for the Centre for Science and Environment, pointed to public transport inadequacies in Delhi to say that this was also a big action gap in the fight against pollution. “Way back in 1998 the Supreme Court had directed the Delhi government to have at least 10,000 buses. But even today there are only 7041 buses (of which only 902 are electric). So even the basic target for buses has not been met, this needs massive scaling up.” Not only is the number of buses low, ridership has also been simultaneously falling.
RoyChowdhury quoted Delhi’s latest Economic Survey (2023) to say that daily passengers carried per bus were down from 878 to 487 in DTC buses and from 753 to 351 in cluster buses in the past six years. “The service levels across the bus network need to improve, people should find it convenient to take buses,” she said. Also, integration of the metro and bus network, offering better last mile connectivity are some other steps which will increase the use of public transport in Delhi.
