The UnFound Analysis: Gaze Through Delhi’s Haze
Winter is upon us — and so is pollution.
Delhi’s pollution is at an all time high right now, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeding 550 this week, making the situation very severe.
As with every years, the blame game continues with some blaming Deepavali, some blaming vehicles, and others.
A report in the medical journal Lancet says that pollution and climate change will impact the lvies of the next generation. Quite worrying, isn’t it? Power plants in the National Capital Region (NCR) have missed numerous deadlines to shut down, resulting in pollution remaining constant. The one thing that has changed, though is that Haryana has cracked down on stubble burning heavily, while Punjab is still struggling with the issue.
So, the crucial question:
Is the Delhi Government doing enough to curb air pollution in Delhi?
The State Transport Department banned the entry of heavy and medium goods vehicles into the national capital for three days. Authorities banned construction activities and halted operations of industries using coal and biomass as fuel. However, not enough for all stakeholders to get their act together to pull Delhi out of the mess. The AAP govt promised to increase the bus fleet, however, has not been able to fulfil it instead reducing the fleet. Moreover, it has also failed on the crackdown of polluting vehicles.
But, what about the Delhi Government’s controversial Odd-Even scheme?
Will it help solve the capital’s pollution?
In its introductory phase, the odd-even scheme proved to be a successful measure in curbing air pollution in Delhi. This reduction in pollution was visible despite hostile weather conditions — no wind, temperature dip and western disturbance. At the same time, Delhi’s pollution problem isn’t really linked to vehicles. The majority of the pollution came from outside of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, from other regions in the NCR in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Therefore, no matter what stringent standards Delhi adopted, pollution would flow in from the neighbouring states in any case.
The Supreme Court of India has now told the government that Odd-Even isn’t a permanent solution and has asked it to find other methods.
Now, for an important, question.
Will air pollution be a major issue in the Delhi elections?
Pollution has taken centre stage perhaps for the first time in Indian democracy, especially with the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) started the campaign on pollution in Delhi even before the air quality worsened to alarming levels in the National Capital Region. Delhi is witnessing the politicisation of the pollution debate. The issue is now just one step away from the ballot box.
But, India’s politicians have just not shown any serious interest in controlling pollution. They have no courage to take on the big polluters the corporate sector, which too has shown a singular lack of interest in controlling pollution. The government’s own companies and power stations are heavy polluters. And politicians do not want to take on the small polluters because they constitute important vote banks. Political parties reflect the preferences of their voters. And, the environment is not a priority for most voters. It is not that people are not suffering due to environmental pollution and destruction. They are, but they have not been adequately informed so that they make it an important election issue. And this is a failure of civil society as well.
That’s all from us this week, do download the UnFound App on Google Play and Be a #RebelAgainstMisinformation
Contributed by Srikanth Ramakrishnan
