Delhi's Air Pollution: A Deadly Crisis

Delhi's air quality is a growing public concern, with the city's air being twice as bad as Beijing's. The air pollution in Delhi has been attributed to various factors, including vehicular emissions, industrial activities, agricultural waste burning, and construction. The high levels of pollution have led to significant health issues such as respiratory problems, eye irritation, skin irritation, and chronic headaches. Despite the negative impacts on health, pollution is not a prominent political issue in India and is rarely addressed in election campaigns. This paragraph introduces the topic of air pollution in Delhi, highlighting the severity of the problem and its impact on the health of Delhi's residents.

Vehicle emissions

The situation has been exacerbated by court-ordered restrictions on bus services, which have led to more people purchasing private cars. The metro system is seen as an inadequate alternative due to poor connectivity and high costs, while the bus system is underfunded and overloaded. As a result, residents have few incentives to opt for public transportation, further contributing to vehicle emissions.

The transportation sector is not limited to private vehicles, however. The burning of fossil fuels by trucks, planes, ships, and other modes of transportation also contributes to air pollution. In addition, the transportation of goods and people between cities and regions can lead to the spread of air pollution over wider areas.

To address the issue of vehicle emissions, regulations and incentives are needed to encourage the use of more environmentally friendly modes of transportation. This could include improving the accessibility and affordability of public transportation, investing in electric vehicle infrastructure, and implementing stricter emission standards for vehicles.

Additionally, tackling emissions from the transportation sector requires a holistic approach. This includes considering the emissions produced by the manufacturing and maintenance of vehicles, as well as the environmental impact of the roads, bridges, and other infrastructure that enables transportation. By addressing vehicle emissions from multiple angles, Delhi can take significant steps toward improving its air quality and the health of its residents.

Industrial emissions

Delhi's air quality is twice as bad as Beijing's, with an air quality index of 999 recorded in November 2017, equivalent to smoking 45 to 50 cigarettes a day. The city's air pollution has been linked to various health issues, including respiratory problems, chronic headaches, eye and skin irritation, and reduced lung capacity.

While farmers' crop stubble burning is often blamed for Delhi's smog season, experts emphasize that the city experiences high pollution levels throughout the year. Pollution sources include the transportation sector, coal-burning power plants, waste accumulation in landfills, and construction activities.

The Badarpur Thermal Power Station, a coal-fired power plant built in 1973, was a major source of industrial air pollution in Delhi until its permanent shutdown in October 2018. Court-ordered restrictions on bus services have inadvertently contributed to the increase in private vehicle ownership and road construction, exacerbating vehicle emissions and road dust, which account for a significant portion of Delhi's air pollution.

To address industrial emissions, campaigners urge leaders to focus on regulating transport and heavy industry. Authorities are encouraged to enforce regulations on large polluting industries, including coal-fired power stations and steel plants, to mitigate their environmental impact.

Crop stubble burning

Delhi's air pollution is a major issue, with the air quality twice as bad as Beijing's. Stubble burning in northern India has long been a significant contributor to this problem. The practice involves farmers burning leftover straw or stubble to clear the soil for the next crop. While this occurs in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, the smoke travels as far as Delhi, adding to the city's air pollution.

The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) estimates that around 14 million tons of rice stubble are burned annually in India, with Haryana and Punjab contributing to 48% of this amount. The share of stubble burning in Delhi's pollution can vary from 1% to 42%, depending on wind speed and direction. In 2020, a report indicated that the average contribution had grown from 10% in 2019 to 15% in 2020.

The toxic fumes from stubble burning affect the health of hundreds of millions of people, causing respiratory issues and other health problems. The smoke from stubble burning, combined with emissions from vehicles, industry, and other sources, creates a toxic haze that endangers the well-being of Delhi's residents.

Farmers in these states often grow water-intensive crops like paddy, which has led to intensive farming practices and rapid groundwater depletion. While the government has attempted to address this issue by offering alternative technologies and subsidizing the cost of crop residue management equipment, these efforts have not always been effective or successfully adopted.

The Supreme Court of India has criticized the lack of enforcement of environment laws and the failure to implement penalties for stubble burning. Despite the efforts of policymakers and research organizations, stubble burning remains a persistent issue that contributes to Delhi's air pollution crisis.

Poor public transport infrastructure

Delhi's air quality is poor, with levels of pollution twice as high as Beijing's. Motor vehicle emissions are a significant cause of poor air quality, with 36% of NOx emissions, 83% of CO emissions, and 41% of overall air pollution coming from vehicles.

The city's transport infrastructure plays a role in this issue. Delhi has a high number of registered vehicles, with 16.6 million as of June 2014, the highest in the world among all cities. The majority of these vehicles do not follow any pollution emission norms, contributing to the city's air pollution. The city's reliance on road infrastructure has been exacerbated by court-ordered restrictions on bus services, which have led to an increase in private car ownership and road construction.

The development of the Delhi Metro system, which began operations in 2002, has provided some relief to the transport infrastructure. However, the rapid increase in population and large-scale immigration have put excessive pressure on the existing transport network. As a result, the city faces acute transport management problems, leading to congestion and a resultant loss of productivity.

The lack of safe public transport options, particularly for women, is a significant issue in Delhi. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus network is the mainstay of the city's transport system, with over 4.5 million daily users. However, only 5% of the buses are under surveillance, leaving safety concerns. The Metro is often seen as the lone safe transport option for women, but it also suffers from a lack of last-mile connectivity, with feeder bus services being patchy or non-existent.

The city's ring railway, a 35-kilometer circular network, has been neglected in recent years due to the expansion of the Delhi Metro and bus network. On average, only 3,700 passengers use the trains each day.

Lack of political will

Despite the drastic health impacts of air pollution in Delhi, the issue has not become a major political priority in India. It rarely features in election campaigns, and authorities have been criticised for seeking quick fixes rather than tackling the root causes of the problem.

One example of a quick fix is the construction of costly smog towers, which are supposed to suck pollution from the air but have little scientific backing and have been largely ineffective. Another short-term solution is the deployment of drones to spray water into the air, which does not address the underlying sources of pollution.

The transportation sector, including the millions of cars, scooters, and auto-rickshaws on Delhi's roads, is a major contributor to air pollution. However, there are few incentives for residents to switch from private vehicles to public transportation. The metro is expensive and poorly connected, and the bus system is underfunded and overloaded.

In addition to transportation, heavy industry, including coal-fired power plants and steel plants, is a significant source of pollution. While the Badarpur Thermal Power Station, a coal-fired power plant built in 1973, was permanently shut down in 2018 due to its detrimental impact on the environment, more enforcement of regulations on big polluting industries is needed.

Agricultural practices, such as farmers' burning of crop stubble, also contribute to Delhi's air pollution. While farmers have been widely blamed for the smog season, experts and environmentalists argue that they are only a small part of the problem and that treating pollution as seasonal and geographically restricted to Delhi is counterproductive.

Overall, the lack of political will to address air pollution in Delhi has resulted in a failure to implement effective long-term solutions and a reliance on short-term fixes that do not adequately address the severity of the problem.

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