The Supreme Court has finally identified vehicular emissions as one of the principal contributors to Delhi’s worsening air pollution and directed the authorities to explore a solution.
The Supreme Court has finally identified vehicular emissions as one of the principal contributors to Delhi’s worsening air pollution and directed the authorities to explore a solution. However, the apex court merely said what environmentalists have been emphasising for years. Despite repeated warnings and recommendations from experts, authorities have consistently failed to demonstrate the political will required to address the root causes of the crisis. A few years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, led by Arvind Kejriwal, had attempted to tackle the problem by introducing the odd-even traffic rationing scheme. However, the initiative was abandoned later, and no sustained effort was made to revive or replace it with a comprehensive strategy. Instead of confronting the problem at its source, the authorities have repeatedly sought to shift the blame to stubble burning in neighbouring agricultural regions, particularly Punjab, which witnesses widespread crop-residue burning during this time of the year. While stubble burning undoubtedly contributes to the deterioration of air quality, portraying it as the principal culprit conveniently allows the administration to evade responsibility for unchecked vehicular emissions and other sources of urban pollution.
Even this year, as Delhi's pollution levels soared to alarming proportions ahead of Diwali, the authorities reportedly cited NASA satellite observations of 13,241 crop-fire incidents in Pakistan's Punjab during October. Yet, little concrete action was evident to curb vehicular pollution within the national capital. Instead, the administration came up with familiar stopgap measures, including encouraging employees to work from home, to keep young children indoors and impose other temporary restrictions. Such interventions may offer limited relief, but they cannot be mistaken for a long-term solution. These are, at best, cosmetic responses to a grave public-health emergency, as they do little to improve the underlying quality of the air. The consequences are devastating, with Delhi's residents being exposed to levels of toxic pollution that have been likened to smoking more than 30-cigarettes a day.
There is, however, no reason why the situation cannot be substantially improved if the authorities demonstrate the resolve to confront the problem rather than resorting to seasonal firefighting. Three immediate measures deserve serious consideration. First, stringent restrictions must be imposed on the use of old and polluting vehicles, both commercial and private, with no preferential treatment or arbitrary exemptions. Second, the administration must consider regulating the registration of new vehicles in the capital. With more than 1,800 vehicles reportedly being registered every day, the unchecked expansion of the city's vehicle population is bound to aggravate an already unsustainable situation. Third, the use of two-wheelers fitted with highly polluting two-stroke engines must be prohibited. Admittedly, these measures alone cannot eliminate Delhi's pollution, which also has industrial, construction-related and other sources. Nevertheless, controlling vehicular emissions must be an indispensable component of any credible pollution-control strategy. The authorities can no longer afford to treat the annual deterioration in air quality as an unavoidable seasonal phenomenon. Clean air is not a privilege that citizens should have to negotiate for every winter; it is a basic necessity and a fundamental condition of a dignified life.