Smog chokes national capital

Political parties engage in blame game

Rakesh Lohumi

the national capital left the people gasping for breath. The residents are used to high levels of air pollution during winter but in the first week of November the city's real-time Air Quality Index (AQI) touched a new high of 999 in worst hit parts like Anand Vihar. There was chaos on roads due to poor visibility and normal life was virtually crippled. The administration was forced to take several urgent measures to deal suspension of construction activity for five days, shutting down of the thermal power plant at Badarpur for ten days and closure of schools for three days.

People were also advised to stay indoors and, if possible, work from home. Talks have already begun to implement the odd-even scheme rather early to reduce volume of vehicular traffic on roads, even though it was not much of a success in the second phase last winter.

The abject lack of wind and high level of moisture ensured that the smog persisted right through the day and there was no respite for almost a week. The health implications are serous. In the still weather the fine particles are left hanging in the air and when inhaled they settle deep in the lungs, leading to respiratory and situation can be judged from the fact that the real-time air quality index breached all records with air pollution exceeding "hazardous' levels" across the national capital region.

The worst affected areas like Anand Vihar (999), Mandir Marg (692), R. K. Puram (633), Punjabi Bagh (765), IGI Airport (426) and ITO (669) recorded levels five to ten times higher than safe limits.

As per the Centre for Science and Environment, pollution levels of particulate matter up to a diameter of 10 microns (PM10) ranged from of 900 to 1700 microgram per cubic metre against the standard level of 100. The peak levels of air pollution reached staggering highs with concentration of Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter, PM10 and PM2.5 (diameter up to 2.5 microns), shooting up to ten times the safe limit of 100 and 60 microgram per cubic metre, respectively.

Reports of children and the elderly having breathing problems and irritation in the eyes created widespread panic. Sales of air masks surged as people made a beeline to medical stores and hospitals to acquire protective gear to face the emergency situation.
The winter has just begun and with it the ordeal that the residents of the most polluted city of the country face every year. In the past this kind of situation arose only in December. However, this year the smog crisis has hit early and with more severity, a clear indication that the concerned government agencies have failed to take the required remedial measures to curb air pollution.
The situation is worsening progressively as this important environmental issue is being exploited by political parties to score points over each other instead of making concerted efforts to find a solution.
Even as the national capital was reeling under the impact of worst ever smog the leaders of BJP and AAP, the two parties at the helm in Delhi and at the Centre, were busy blaming each other for the crisis It parties citing various reports and studies as per their convenience to drive home their respective viewpoints in the game of political one-upmanship. Air does not respect political boundaries and across vast expanse of land to places far off from their sources. However, ignoring the ground realties and virtually abdicating their responsibility political parties continued to indulge in the blame game.

Arvind Kejriwal Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal maintained that stubble burning by farmers in Punjab and Haryana contributed immensely to the high levels of smog in the Capital which had been had virtually reduced to a gas chamber. However, Union Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave quickly rebutted his claim stating that the satellite images by ISRO made it clear that the neighbouring states were responsible for only 20 per cent of the pollution and Delhi was itself responsible for the remaining 80 per cent.

Manohar Lal Khattar Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also asserted that cropresidue burning was not entirely responsible for high levels of air pollution in Delhi, various other factors, particularly, construction activity, industry and vehicular emissions were more to be blamed. The Punjab BJP launched a more acerbic attack with state secretary Vineet Joshi accusing AAP of maligning Punjab by first painting its youth as drug addicts and now defaming its farmers by holding them responsible for Delhi's pollution woes.
Being out of power in the entire region the Congress found it easy to blame the BJP regime at the Centre and AAP government in Delhi for the alarming rise in air pollution. Taking both parties to task Vice President Rahul Gandhi asked them to rise above the blame game and work to find a solution. However, the harsh reality is that the Congress is primarily responsible for the crisis contain the rising pollution during its long stint in power.
Gufran Beig, Program Director of Safar (under the earth sciences ministry), said stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana accounted for almost 70% of the pollution load during the city's worst air day. In absence of regular monitoring by state agencies the political parties get enough leeway to dispute the sources of pollution.
Rising outdoor air pollution, over which the individuals have no control, has indeed emerged as a major environmental risk to health in recent years owning to reckless development policies and failure of successive governments to take timely corrective measures. Whatever little measures have been put in place are mostly an outcome of the directions issued by courts from time to time, otherwise the situation would have been much worse. In fact, the Centre and the states have never been serious about implementing the orders of the court.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) came down heavily on Delhi and its neighbouring states for not even reading its orders to curb pollution and the Centre for "playing a joke" on people by doing nothing for five days when toxic smog descended on the National Capital Region (NCR). It rapped the states for not taking effective steps to control stubble burning and sought details of mechanism put in place to implement its directions to check air pollution. It wondered why the order to phase out over 10 year old diesel vehicles in the capital was not being complied to by the Delhi government and reiterated the direction.

The Supreme Court also took a serious view of the Centre's lackadaisical approach and asked whether it had a policy to deal with the problem. It sought a graded response to check rising air pollution in Delhi. The apex court also asked the Centre, Delhi government and the concerned civic agencies to come up with a common minimum programme or an action plan to combat pollution. This seemingly intractable overnight; it is a long term fallout of unregulated and excessive urbanization, large-scale deforestation and mass migration of people into the national capital region over the years. One of the reasons for the intense smog is low dispersion due to lack of wind, a consequence of deforestation. Weather, particularly wind, is all about temperature gradients which no longer exist due to continuous expanse of concrete

The short term measures taken by the government, albeit under directions of the court, also indicate that it is well aware of what is to be done. Steps like temporary closure of Badarpur thermal power plant, ban on construction activity and odd-even scheme taken to deal with crisis situation have to be given a longer run. The thermal plant must be closed permanently and this can be achieved only with the support of Centre which has to ensure that people of Delhi get adequate power.

jungle. Absence of forest cover affects precipitation and also leads to a sudden fall in temperature as a result of which smog descended a month early.

While the worsening situation calls for a complete review of the development model, strong and immediate steps are needed to bring down emission of pollutants from various sources within and outside Delhi. For a long term solution concerted efforts will have aftermath of unregulated urbanisation along with discouraging farmers from burning crop waste by providing a viable alternative.

There is no dearth of scientific studies that pinpoint the sources of pollutant load, the percentage contribution may vary but there is no dispute over their origin. It is clear that the bulk of PM10 and PM2.5 from sources within Delhi comes from auotmobiles, industries, coal-fired power plants, burning of municipal waste along with dust from construction and demolition activities and movement of vehicles. Stubble burning by farmers in neighboring states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh contributes significantly to make things worse during winter.

The short-term measures taken by the government, albeit under directions of the court, also indicate that it is well aware of what is to be done. Steps like temporary closure of Badarpur thermal power plant, ban on construction activity and odd-even scheme taken to deal with crisis situation have to be given a longer run.

The thermal plant must be closed permanently and this can be achieved only with the support of the Centre which has to ensure that people of Delhi get adequate power. Odd-even cannot be a permanent solution and the objective of reducing the volume vehicles on the road has to be achieved by a slew of measures like inducting more buses in the public transport system, rapid expansion of metro-rail network, phasing out of old diesel vehicles, restricting entry of commercial vehicles and buses into the core areas of Delhi and construction of elevated roads to ease congestion. Further, BS IV norms for automobiles should be enforced with immediate effect.

A bus terminal (ISBT North), well connected with the metro network, be developed close to the outer ring road near Kundli where all Delhi–bound buses should terminate, except those heading for Jaipur, Gurgaon, Faridbad and other places. A new business hub can be developed on the northern side and companies be persuaded to shift from Gurgaon and Noida to ease cross Delhi traffic.

These measures require direct engagement of the Centre as issues pertaining to land, finances and various clearances will be involved. Thus, instead of engaging in political war, the Centre and the Delhi government will have to join hands and adopt an integrated approach.

Moreover, the issue of stubble burning is not specific to Delhi and has to be addressed at the national level. A strong political will is needed to implement a timebound comprehensive action plan for a lasting solution.

While the actual quantum of crop residues being burnt is not available, agriculture experts estimate that 80 to 90 million tonne is set ablaze every year. However, farmers are not to be blamed for it. A new technology in the shape of combine harvesters, introduced about 15 years ago, created this problem, asserts Devinder Sharma, eminent food policy analyst and Convenor of Kisan Ekta.

A combine harvester leaves behind about 6-8 inches long stubble, which is burnt down by farmers to prepare the fields for the next crop. Removing the stubble manually makes little sense as it cannot be used as animal fodder. While manual harvesting of paddy costs over Rs.4, 000 per acre , using a combine harvester it costs just Rs.1,200 per acre.

A solution has to be found in the technology itself and the best way is to integrate a paddy straw baling machine with the combine harvester to ensure that no stubble is left behind. Manufacturers of these machines have to ensure that the biomass can be collected neatly by attaching some other machines, points out Devinder Sharma. Once the crop residue is collected mechanically, it can be put various uses like power generation mulching and composting to bring economic gains to farmers. A baler costs about Rs11 lakh, too expensive for an individual farmer, but with subsidies and setting up of biomass-based power plants it could be made viable for contractors who rent out farm machinery. Renowned agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan also lays emphasis on economic use of crop residue by converting it into livestock feed, compost, substrate for mushroom farming or using as raw material for power generation and biofuel production.

Respirable Suspended Particulate Matter (RSPM) It is the main air pollutant comprising solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air and affects the people more than other pollutants. They are so tiny that it is impossible to filter them out.
The particles are identified according to their aerodynamic diameter. Particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 microns are classified as PM10 and the fine particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 2 microns as PM2.5

The fine particles (PM2.5) are most harmful for health as they can penetrate deep and get lodged in the lungs. Chronic exposure to particles can cause respiratory disorders, pulmonary disease and other problems.