Last winter, precisely on November 4, I had written a piece on Delhi as a city gasping for breath. One year on, the gasps have become heavier and breathing more laborious. The Air Quality Index (AQI) has breached the 500 mark in several parts of the capital. Reporting air quality is a good filler for news channels when something more exciting is not happening, like the Delhi CM evading ED summons or a popular parliamentarian appearing before the Ethics Committee of Parliament, the Chief Minister of some state having a ‘gloves off’ bout with the Governor or Virat Kohli preparing to hit his 49th century in the ICC World Cup. In terms of good governance and ethics, all these pale in front of the obnoxious fact that government after government in Delhi and its adjoining states have denied to their people, the basic human right to breathe clean air.
Reports have rated the PM 2.5 and PM 10 based air quality indices in several parts of the NCR to be ‘hazardous’. Residents of Delhi themselves admit that they have not had it so bad. Schools have been closed so that children do not fall sick breathing toxic air and people have been advised to work from home. If the AQI is indeed alarming, somebody should be alarmed. I don’t see that happening. Other than making life difficult for its citizens, for Delhi and adjoining states, and even for the Central Government, it appears to be business as usual. Nobody has time for citizens in Delhi when elections are due in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan or Mizoram. The Chief Minister of Delhi, having been accused in a liquor scam was summoned by the ED but did not make an appearance as he has, among other duties, election campaigning to perform outside Delhi even as the Delhi voter chokes on foul air. The silence on the part of political parties across the spectrum in Delhi over pollution is deafening compared to the noise made over the alleged liquor scam.
Whenever pollution increases in the NCR, people get down to analysis which means nothing to a common person. What are the hundred and one reasons that cause it, how our organisations are ill-equipped and poorly staffed to handle issues of such mammoth proportions, how well we have done in transition from fossil fuels to electric vehicles, why stubble burning cannot be stopped and farmers lobbies get away with it, how important construction is for development, how big a bane is overcrowding of the city, inaction of agencies empowered to deal with different aspects of pollution, so on and so forth. Very little is done in terms of concrete action to tackle the deteriorating situation. Air quality is bad; so, let us run ‘odd and even’ scheme for vehicles for the next ten days – are we serious? Will air quality miraculously improve or are we just biding time for winters to pass so that we can procrastinate for another year?
The most exasperating feature of this abject negligence and incompetence on part of governments and agencies is the transfer of responsibility to citizens for looking after their health. Advisories range from telling people to mask up, wear eye protection, stay indoors, avoid morning walks, cycle or walk to work, water dusty areas and visit the doctor if all else fails. It is an admission of guilt and ineffectiveness to deal with a situation that is endangering the lives of more than forty million Indians living in the Delhi NCR area.
This is a climate emergency in Delhi and parts of its adjoining states. Declare a climate emergency. Do everything it takes to stop pollution and clean up the environment, however harsh or unpopular that may be. Articulate a plan and ensure its strict compliance. If we could tackle an unprecedented Covid pandemic in the admirable way that we did, tackling this localised pollution should be child’s play. We face similar and gradually deteriorating situations year after year because of the greed prevalent in our society at all levels that drives people to make money at any cost, even at the cost of their own health and that of their families.
I have a suggestion for people who face the brunt of pollution in Delhi NCR or for that matter, in any other part of the country, year after year. Apart from keeping yourselves safe in whatever manner you can, do not vote for people’s representatives who do not have ‘people’ in focus. Why else would they force you to breathe poisonous air and deprive you of the fundamental right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution? And call officials and organisations out who shirk their duty of keeping our environment clean and sustainable. If we, the people, continue to suffer such irresponsible representatives and organisations, we will get leaders and the air quality that we deserve.
Let climate and pollution be your voting plank, notwithstanding whatever political parties peddle as pre-election goodies.
I think the Governments of the day are simply not interested in addressing the issue in a manner that it deserves. Now it is left for the citizens to use the resources at their disposal to sort this out – court, Vote, Gherao the concerned officials….and final answer – Kambal parade? 🤪
I am just a little more hopeful. The Supreme Court has pulled up state governments. The Cabinet Secy has chaired a meeting with CSs of states to control stubble burning. Odd-Even is being implemented for whatever it is worth. Smog towers in Delhi have been operationalised as per media reports. People are thinking about cloud-seeding. There needs to evolve a concrete plan to control building activity in NCR but where is the moral authority when the Central Vista is perhaps one of the main culprits of construction-related pollution? Similarly, there is a need to provide alternate fuels to rural and semi-urban households that burn biomass for cooking/heating. Burning of dried leaves and tyres etc must not be allowed. So much can be done if there is a will and some shame amongst leaders and officials.
One felt amazed at the helplessness of the Govts of Karnataka , Tamilnadu and Kerala in dealing with Veerappan – the poacher, smuggler who had a free run with his activities for over three decades. Was the helplessness by design or default?
Air pollution in Delhi, if equated with Veerappan, begs the question – is this problem insurmountable or do we collectively tag along with a ‘What my father goes’ attitude.
I think, either a strong leader just gives a dictat or a bottom-up movement hinted by Dasgupta sir – could shake everyone out of slumber, to slay this Veerappan.
One heartening prospect though, we see around is the school kids these days seem to have moved away from fire crackers towards a cleaner Diwali. We elders can take a leaf out of their book and start doing our bit.
Talking of environmental pollution has indeed become a fad in India as it appears. It is a ready discussion point even in social gatherings. Almost everyone seems to have a solution only if they are heard. And finally everyone comes to an unanimous decision about the ineffectiveness of government machinery, citing political apathy to the cause. Farmers in neighbouring states, owners of farm lands all, in whose farms stumble burning burning takes place are also ordinary citizens equally exposed to hazards of pollution. Some of them may be very vocal too about the ills of environment pollution in public. So are residents of Delhi who are absolutely oblivious of the pollution contributed by their vehicles on road. Is their any audit ever carried out by per capita ownership of vehicles in Delhi city itself? A family of any standing takes huge pride in showing off the number of cars possessed by each members of family and how often are any of their members ready to undergo the ‘trauma’ of travelling in public transport at all? Public transports are only meant for ‘mango people’ perhaps where as most residents of Delhi consider themselves to belong to a specific ‘class’ only. Aren’t the public transports is a strict ‘No’ ‘No’ for them? It is a sacrilege if one is ever seen travelling in them perhaps.
AQI is merely a fancy term to quote for almost all Indians at large and they take no action as an individual to improve the situation. Hypocrisy is the order of the day and citizens of this country seem to be left with no option but gasp for breath, harder year and year on end, most unfortunately.
So we too shall eagerly await another well articulated story on the subject come next winter too
Supreme Court has really pulled up the Govt on this extremely dangerous situation today. But why can’t the lawmakers take concrete action gets my goat. Really a shame !
Are the solutions even known?
Started with Diwali crackers. That got the Hindus started! Interference in faith! Little did they realise that crackers are a Chinese invention and we only had Diya’s.
Be that as it may now we have a situation well before Diwali. So it is not just Diwali. Crop 🔥 also. Turns out now that farmers had always 🔥 crop residue.
So new villain. It is the Monsanto GM maize which has delayed rice planting. So October harvest Natwar of September. And hence the smog. We are stumbling from one hack to the other without a holistic solution.
Filmsy measures like odd-even, restrictions on transport vehicles, diesel vehicles etc will not solve the problem. The sole cause of this dangerous pollution is stumble burning and it happens outside delhi/NCR. This will go on unless the concerned state governments raise their heads above political mud and jointly find a win-win solution.
Sir, very thought provoking and analytical article with a hard hitting solution. Higher AQIs during this period has probably become a new normal for citizens n all agencies including government.
COVID was tackled by invoking of the NDMA n coordinated efforts of all concerned. Am not sure similar action can be taken to tackle this although very much desirable.
Sir, I had said it then and will say it now that the problem the citizens of Delhi face is purely political. Why cant we stop this mess? Why are we so helpless? Interestingly, it is the same political outfit in both Delhi and Punjab. Who do they blame? Haryana?