Crop burning and smog in the North

Every winter, Delhi is enveloped in smog, as millions of tonnes of crop residue are burned in the northern states. Smoke billows across the cities and suspended particulate matter sends the air quality index through the roof. The severity of the problem is known: A report by WHO said 2.5 million Indians died due to air pollution in 2015, the largest number in the world. Authorities express their solidarity but do little else. The Centre, which was ordered to produce a Graded Response Action Plan, did so only in October, by which time pollution levels were too high to contain. It’s time to work together and address India’s silent killer says leading environment expert  Chandra Bhushan.

It’s winter and like all winters over the past few years, air pollution in Delhi dominates the headlines of newspapers, television channels and social media trends. Like before, all the organs of the government have sprung into action in the last few weeks; having done very little in the previous ten months.

The Delhi government wants to introduce the odd-even vehicle rationing scheme, but has not bought a single CNG bus in the last two years. It collects pollution tax from trucks entering the city, but has not used this money adequately to control pollution. For instance, it has not bought adequate numbers of mechanical sweepers to remove dust from roads. Dust is a major source of air pollution in the city.

The Central government has shown solidarity and nothing more. The Union Health Ministry has issued a health advisory and NitiAayog has recommended a slew of measures like finding alternatives to crop residue burning, and encouraging commuters to share cars and take public transportation. The Union Environment Ministry has issued advisory to states to implement various actions. But the fact is the central government has failed to bring the governments of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi together to solve the problem of stubble burning. Millions of tonnes of crop residue are burnt every year by farmers of Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh, but nothing concrete has been done so far.

The judiciary too has also come into action. Supreme Court, High Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) have passed orders and strictures. But little seems to have been implemented or can be implemented this winter. To the credit of the judiciary, it has been seriously taking up the issue of air pollution in NCR, but have been frustrated by the executives. In turn, the judiciary has issued orders that are non-implementable.For instance, Supreme Court has given orders to implement the standards of Oxides of Sulphur (SOx) and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) for industriesby December 31.Everyone knows that these standards cannot be implemented in two months. But I don’t fault the honorable court for giving this un-implementable order. Supreme Court was frustrated by the union environment ministry which was sitting on these standards for months. The court had no other option but to force the ministry to issue them and then enforce them in a short period of time.

Similarly, NGT has banned the use of diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old and petrol vehicles more than 15 years old in Delhi. But the government has no mechanism to implement this order other than fining and impounding individual vehicles. Impounding the vehicle isn’t an option either for the Delhi government neither has space to park these automobiles or the facilities to scarp them. The air pollution in NCR is a classic case of “too many cooks spoil the broth”.

Causes and solutions:
Air quality index in NCR varies from mildly polluted to severe throughout the year. Last year, the air quality index in about 50% days in November, December and January were in the severe category. That is, the air was toxic. This year doesn’t seem to be any different. The reason is simple: we know what to do, but don’t seems to get our act together. This because:

Firstly, our political leadership has not understood and internalised the gravity of the situation.

The statement of the union environment minister, “air pollution is harmful but to attribute any death to a cause like pollution may be too much” is disheartening, to say the least. Air pollution is killing people and we must recognise and accept it. Only than we can move ahead.

Secondly, our environmental agencies are failing us. There is absolutely no leadership in the environment ministry, central pollution control board or the state pollution control boards to address this issue. In fact, all these agencies seem to be mute spectators and following the orders of the courts. Without the will and the willingness of executive, we cannot tackle air pollution.

Thirdly, multiple sources contribute to air pollution. The main sources are vehicular pollution, dust from roads and open spaces, industries like thermal power plants and brick kiln and crop residue burning. We do not have an implementable action plan for each of them. What we currently have is court orders and fiat of the executive. Developing an implementable action plan will require working with all stakeholders and coming out with viable solutions within a given timeframe. Let me illustrate this point. Everyone knows that we have to stop stubble burning. We have orders of the courts and regulation of the government to stop this. But, we do not know how to stop this; because we do not have an action plan that is agreed by all.

Lastly, air pollution in not a NCR phenomenon, it is a Pan-India phenomenon. Most Indian cities don’t meet air quality norms. The severity of pollution is highest in North India during winters. In fact, Delhi is not the most polluted city in India. Cities like Gwalior, Allahabad, Patna and Raipur are more polluted. According to a recent report by the British Medical Journal the Lancet, an estimated half a million Indians died prematurely in 2015 due to PM2.5 (particulate matters less than 2.5 microns in size) in the air. Above all else, we need agencies to work together and not at cross purposes. Only then can we combat the killer that is air pollution.

The writer is Deputy Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi