Every year, as Diwali approaches, the conversation on air quality begins to participate more in our public discourse. In Delhi, seasonal pollutants from bursting crackers, burning crop residues and heating twigs to fight the cold add up to year-round contributions from vehicular pollution, construction dust and local industries. The result: the capital’s air quality reaches alarming proportions, prompting some emergency measures to be implemented, which likely helped ease the situation for a while. But this problem happens every winter. Instead of an annual exercise in crisis management, it is time to consider more permanent solutions.
The causes of air pollution are many. Some contribute pollutants throughout the year, while others are seasonal. Stubble burning in neighboring states, open fires to meet the heating needs of the poor and Diwali crackers are seasonal contributors, while construction dust, polluting industries and transport vehicles contribute to pollution throughout the year. Common sense will tell us that a good air-quality action plan will look at contributors throughout the year and find ways to deal with them. This will not only bring down the base level of emissions, but will also create much needed space for some seasonal climax that may be unavoidable.
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It is clear that neither the contributors to air pollution nor the effects of poor air quality are confined to city limits. The adverse health effects are felt beyond the borders of Delhi, as some of the contributions come from different states. Therefore, a regional approach to reducing air pollution is likely to be more useful than a purely city-based approach. In this context, the central government has constituted a commission for air quality management, whose jurisdiction is regional.
Several source apportionment studies over the years (such as CPCB 2010; IIT Kanpur 2016; and TERI 2018) have shown that vehicle exhaust emissions range from 9% to 38% of PM2.5 emissions. Therefore, transportation is an important year-round contributor. Reducing emissions in the transport sector will reduce our base pollution load and help make seasonal spikes less harmful.
We need a comprehensive multi-year plan to reduce emissions from the transport sector. It should involve a four-pronged approach which includes: 1) comprehensive reforms in public bus services; 2) Deployment of clean technologies; 3) infrastructure upgradation for non-motorized modes of transport; and 4) a plan to reduce travel demand.
Public bus services should provide all services, moving away from the traditional approach of a single public agency where a public agency plans and obtains services from private operators on structured contracts. There is a need for innovative premium services that are attractive enough to individual motor vehicle owners. Special services to airports, railway stations, employment centers and local communicators will help reduce the limit for individual motor-vehicle use. Institutional reforms are needed so that we can take advantage of the private sector.
With respect to clean technologies, electric mobility is a fast growing choice across the world and needs to be taken forward aggressively. Recently a challenge was taken up which involved procuring 5,450 electric buses after an analysis of the overall demand across cities showed that electric buses could be significantly cheaper than diesel/CNG alternatives. This approach should be taken forward.
The transition to non-motorized mode requires safe infrastructure for cycling and walking. To ensure that walking and cycling are safe and enjoyable in urban spaces, it is essential to develop pedestrian and bicycle masterplans. This can be an important mode of travel, especially since the average length of travel in Delhi is not very high.
Travel demand can also be reduced by reducing the average number of trips people make and by reducing the length of such trips. Improving online delivery of public services will help reduce travel frequency, while mixed land-use planning helps reduce travel length. Policies and support infrastructure that lets people work from home or shop online are ways to reduce the number of trips they take. Fortunately, COVID has demonstrated that working from home is possible and going to the office every day is no longer a necessity.
In addition, new areas coming into the city should be planned in such a way that commercial and residential areas are co-located to reduce the average travel length.
In short, there are many things that can be done to reduce pollution caused by transport systems in the National Capital Region. However, they require a focused, comprehensive, systematic and multi-year effort. In that direction, the constitution of a commission on air quality management is a welcome step.
There is an expectation that the commission will develop a scientific plan with a long-term vision, and will be adequately resourced and empowered to implement it. Otherwise, the concern of safe breathing will continue and people will stay away from Delhi for a healthy life.
These are the personal views of the authors.
Anil Baijal and OP Agarwal are the former Lieutenant Governors of Delhi and senior advisors to WRI India respectively.
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