Air pollution: Time for tokenism is over

When Sri Lankan cricketers stopped play briefly during the third cricket test at New Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla ground last December complaining of severe pollution and worse, resumed play wearing a mask, we felt hurt, humiliated and angry at the visiting team for exposing our dark underbelly.

The country’s reaction was one of denial as exemplified by BCCI’s reaction then: “20,000 people in the stands did not have a problem...”. The Sri Lankan players were trolled on social media for making a big fuss. A few days and a new crisis later, the country moved on. As regards air pollution, it has only got worse.

In March this year, the World Health Organisation announced that nine out of the top 10 most polluting cities in the world were in India. The Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 released recently on the effect of air pollution, for the first time, put the issue in greater perspective. One out of eight deaths in India is attributable to air pollution and in absolute terms that number, at 12.4 lakh people, is not small.

Also, country’s mean particulate matter (PM 2.5) of 90 micrograms/cubic metre is the worst in the world with as much as 77 per cent of the population exposed to significant air pollution. Energy Policy Institute, University of Chicago has estimated that residents of New Delhi will live nine years longer if the air quality in the Capital met the WHO standards (PM 2.5 of 25 micrograms per cu metre or less).

In most other countries people would have hauled politicians over the coals for allowing the living conditions to deteriorate so badly. Not in India. It is not even an election issue yet. It may remain so until air pollution starts impacting people’s livelihood directly. And that, it appears, has begun.

Foreign tourists inflow into Delhi which is a part of the famed Golden Triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur) has dropped by 30 per cent so far this season (mid-October to March). If it is tourists now, it will be investors next. India’s attraction as an investment destination is primarily its demography but the noxious air quality, over time, will leave its young work force unhealthy thereby affecting productivity. If that happens, foreign investors will start looking elsewhere to set up manufacturing capacities. Domestic manufacturers will eventually follow them leaving the 12 million people joining the work force every year with an uncertain future.

Judicial intervention

The need of the hour is a solution that has scale, depth and stringency of action to deal with this problem that is assuming menacing proportions. But successive governments have failed to measure up to the situation and in most instances, it has been the Supreme Court (SC) that has taken the lead to force a change.

Take the case of Delhi. In the first phase, by the turn of the century, adoption of CNG as a fuel, implementation of the emission standards, shifting polluting industries out of the capital or shutting down coal-based power plants there, were decision that SC-not the government of the time-pushed for. When there was recognisable improvement, policy makers promptly took their feet of the pedal.

The judiciary had to intervene again after the killer smog of 2016 in the National Capital Region (NCR). SC called upon the Ministry and Environment to come up with an air quality index which classifies the conditions as poor, very poor and severe. It also sought an emergency action plan that will be implemented depending on the severity of the problem (at what level will the construction activity be stopped or diesel gensets prohibited or coal-fired power plants shut down or public transport intensified). It is under implementation this year.

The SC then asked for a comprehensive action plan that can be implemented round the year rather than during an emergency and not just for New Delhi but across the country with clear short-, medium- and long-term goals. Following this the government, a few months ago, released the concept note on National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) seeking comments from stakeholders. It is expected to notify NCAP this month.

For the NCAP to be more than just an intent of purpose, it should set clear targets for reducing pollution levels. Its implementation should be closely monitored through proper compliance and reporting mechanism. That is not it. Considering governments’ past performances, a legal over-sight is essential. Today there is a dire need to accelerate the pace of change. If the executive is not able to do so, the judiciary will have to step in as the Constitution has enshrined citizens right to life. This is not to say that governments have failed totally over the years. Some good policies have been announced such as decontrol of fuel prices, especially diesel which has reversed dieselisation of cars (diesel cars are account for just 25 per cent of the fleet but contribute for 75 per cent of PM 2.5 generated by vehicles) and the Ujjwala Yojana has seen distribution of LPG cyclinders to over 50 million households. They replace solid fuels in households which is a big source of air pollution.

That apart, roll out of BS-VI emission norms have been accelerated and plans to convert agri-waste into ethanol (burning of agri-waste is another major cause of air pollution in Delhi) has been mooted. But these actions are not enough. There is a need to act as decisively as how China tackled pollution in Beijing.

China in 2012 decided to reduce PM (2.5) in its capital by 25 per cent in five years. It achieved it by taking drastic steps like capping number of cars sold in a year (it took 2010 sales numbers in the capital and cut it by 30 per cent), shifted to clean energy by shutting down coal-based power plants in the area and implemented odd-even rule to curb the number of vehicles on the roads. Experts say that Delhi, to become comfortably liveable, needs to cut PM (2.5) by 75 per cent from its current levels. Just imagine the aggression we need to show.