Why The Kid Gloves For Delhi’s Biggest Polluter?

In the world’s ‘most polluted capital’, the biggest polluter doesn’t pay. And how health suffers.

Ever felt suddenly a bit nauseous or headachy or a runny nose while driving in heavy traffic with the AC turned on? Chances are that you’ve got the AC circulation switch set to external air coming in. That’s effectively pumping in high AQI air (that is, very, very polluted) straight into your lungs. This may not be a scientifically conducted experiment but helps to grasp how busy roads are among the most polluted places.

Feeling Unwell? Delhi’s heavy traffic in heavy pollution

Here’s the thing though, most people in India’s Capital and neighbouring cities do not use a personal vehicle. Over 70% rely on public transit or walk or cycle. Yet the biggest of air pollution is from vehicles, as studies have shown with reports putting it half of all sources. This means most of the people here end up breathing vehicular pollution on the streets that they aren’t even responsible for. This is both nitrogen oxides and PM 2.5, the ultra microscopic toxic air pollution particles which can settle deep into the lungs and spread to other organs causing havoc in the short and long term. 

BIGGEST POLLUTERS DON’T PAY

The Centre’s CAQM, the Commission for Air Quality Management in-charge of cleaning up air in the Delhi region, rightly says there’s an opportunity for significant air quality gains. But the question is what has been done to ensure a just solution in the last so many years? The major polluters - vehicle owners - are a minority, but is the ‘polluter pays’ principle being applied, specially in the peak pollution season? The CAQM is the latest in a series of bodies and policies rolled out over the last few decades to improve air quality. Some of these have moved the needle, for instance the ahead-of-schedule introduction of the cleaner BS6 fuel and engine standards for vehicles. But gaps in programmes and policies tend to dominate the pollution control landscape. This is a look at some of these concerning vehicular pollution in what will soon be the world’s largest city.

Vehicles Contribute The Most To Delhi’s Air Pollution, Studies Show

Source: SAFAR, Pune

VEHICULAR POLLUTION & YOUR HEALTH

Before that, what do petrol and diesel emissions do to us? They emit nitrogen oxides, which is a mixture of nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide. This is the stuff that contributes to the haze, gives it a yellowish-brown colour. It’s acidic and highly corrosive. When we are exposed to it, low levels of nitrogen oxides in the air can irritate your eyes, nose, throat and lungs. It may cause you to cough, experience shortness of breath, tiredness and nausea. Experts further say that exposure to low levels can also result in fluid build-up in the lungs one or two days after exposure. Breathing high levels of nitrogen oxides can cause rapid burning, spasms, and swelling of tissues in the throat and upper respiratory tract, reduced oxygenation of body tissues, a build-up of fluid in your lungs, and death.

There are of course no easy answers specially for an immediate solution to cut vehicular pollution. Commuting in any large city isn’t hard, and in a megacity like Delhi it’s harder still. It’s not cycle or pedestrian or EV friendly yet. Although some plans have begun to be implemented it may be years before large-scale benefits in lower pollution. 

Bleak Conditions: Delhi is largely not pedestrian friendly, yet. At the city’s Ashram crossing, crores of Rupees have been spent on a new under-pass for vehicles. Pedestrians get an escalator but with concrete steps. The pavement between a metro station and a bus stop has been completely blocked. 

Take for instance public transport, the back-bone of any urban clean-air plan. The Delhi government has just announced there’ll be well over 10,000 buses by 2025. But the estimated requirement is 15,000 according to the recent Delhi Masterplan. In fact, 10,000 buses is what the Supreme Court directed back in 1998! The government now promises 80% will be electric in another three years. Given past experience this new announcement is a welcome but ambitious timeline.

LESSONS FROM LONDON?

The health costs of vehicular pollution are severe. A comparison between London and Delhi is useful even though local conditions like sources of pollution, climate and government response differ. A study in London linked to thousands of life-years lost, deaths and hospitalisations. In Delhi there’s no such in-depth study yet. In London such research prompted action. 

London’s response broadly was to identify an ultra low emissions zone or ULEZ, a very large area covering pollution hotspots, and then take action to ensure emissions were kept low. Congestion charges were repeatedly increased for crowded areas making these very expensive for diesel- and petrol-vehicle drivers; Ubers began using more EVs; there were a lot more EV charging points. All this was done even though newer vehicles were far less polluting than earlier. 

These measures brought down pollution levels in London. In 2017 the average annual level of PM 2.5 pollutants was 2-3 times the WHO’s latest safe level. Today it meets the safe limit which is 5 micrograms/cubic metre. In sharp contrast, Delhi PM 2.5 exceeds the safe limit 21 times! The 2019-21 average is 105 micrograms per cubic metre according to government data. 

‘BREATHING POISON' ON THE ROADS’

London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, was the official driving the change. He was diagnosed with asthma in 2014 after running the London Marathon. He succinctly summarises the problem in a recent Bloomberg report. “I knew nothing about this hidden killer… you can’t see things like particulate matter. But me running along the roads, I’d actually been breathing in poison.”

So why haven’t Delhi and the neighbouring districts, known as NCR, managed to do something similar to what London is doing in terms of a tighter, more stringent policy? It may be political, it may have been impractical, maybe it’s a lack of will. What it’s not is sheer ineptitude because there are a number of top-notch experts, policies and plans both within and outside government. Authorities have the answers, expertise and also resources especially in wealthy Delhi.

NOT ENOUGH ACTION TO CURB VEHICULAR POLLUTION

Both the central and state governments have taken some action like introducing cleaner petrol and diesel standards and banning non-essential trucks which were identified as major polluters. But this still means there are millions of vehicles allowed on the road and this, as London has shown, is driving up pollution. [In fact, Delhi continues to allow diesel, passenger buses belching fumes from nearby states, even though its own buses are run on natural gas or electricity.] 

The megacity area has about 18 million vehicles, mostly two-wheelers and in Delhi about 30% are cars. There are virtually no curbs on these when pollution rises during the October to February. Sure, certain types of transport like trucks carrying non-essential goods are barred. For most other vehicles there’s  Even at extremely hazardous levels there is merely an advisory, under the new pollution control rules known as GRAP, that state governments “may consider” the odd-even scheme, which is to allow vehicles depending on the last digit of their registration plate.  There is no incentive (slashing metro & bus fares) or disincentive (higher parking charges or higher cess on fuel) to reduce fossil fuelled vehicles during the peak pollution months. 

Worse, this mild, and questionable, action can only be invoked under the Graded Response Action Plan rules when PM 2.5 levels are at a literally mind-numbing 250+ micrograms/cubic metre. 

Much of GRAP’s plan for vehicular pollution reads like avuncular advice. Keep your vehicle engine tuned properly, maintain the right tyre pressure to ‘choose’ a cleaner commute, like metro or walking, or car-pool. There’s little or no incentive or disincentive for people to switch from their 2- or 4-wheelers. 

‘PUC’CA MESS

Authorities also end up working at cross-purposes. The latest example being the Delhi state government making it mandatory from 25th October, 2022, for every vehicle to have a PUC or pollution-under-control certificate to fill up on petrol or diesel. It’s a well-intentioned move except that it may be pointless. The CAQM, a powerful central body for air quality management, has punched holes in this, questioning the quality control and credibility of the checks conducted. These are usually done at fuel stations. The Times of India reports how it doesn’t even check for the main air pollutants. 

GLASS HALF-FULL OR EMPTY? 

I’m writing this in mid-October with Diwali a few days away. Some forecasts say that peak pollution may not be as bad this year compared to the last year or two. They cite climatic conditions and an early, warmer Diwali. That’s not much to go by especially after at least eight years of terrible air during October-February. The action plans rolled out by the Central and the State Governments are broadly a step in the right direction but with some serious gaps. More needs to be done asap. 

Authorities shouldn’t wait for PM 2.5 pollution to worsen to hazardous levels, they should start now. The biggest worry, as a parent, is what should schools do to protect children? This is especially important for the younger ones whose lungs are still developing and therefore more vulnerable to long-term damage. 

In terms of possible action beyond what’s been announced: why not introduce a temporary, time-bound cess on petrol and diesel in Delhi and neighbouring NCR districts; slash the metro fares as this column has earlier argued; hike parking fees; mandate work-from-home, say, in slabs of 25% and multiples depending on how bad the air pollution forecast is; ban the entry of diesel- or petrol-fuelled passenger buses from nearby states. Also, scrap pointless moves, like the mandatory PUC for filling up on fuel, and focus enforcement energies elsewhere. 

At a larger, policy level, the Prime Minister’s Office should take over oversight of the CAQM; the CAQM should also use its policing powers a lot more this time, it’s second year as a statutory body; air pollution data from all over the country but particularly in the most-polluted northern plains must be made transparent as air pollution is essentially a public health crisis. People have a right to know what they’re breathing.