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11 November 2022 – The Hindu

Air pollution in Delhi

Context:

Delhi saw extraordinarily poor air quality and a cascading blanket of pollution last week, continuing a long-standing wintertime pattern. The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) was started, elementary schools were closed, and the debate over who was the “main offender” for the air pollution was revived.

Delhi’s long history of air pollution:

Delhi’s air pollution issue and high PM2.5 concentrations have received the majority of media and civil society attention in the last ten years, however, the issue has been present since the 1990s. Pollution-related haze gathers above the capital of the country every winter.
According to the World Health Organization’s 1989 report, Delhi was the fourth most polluted city in the world based on the concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the ambient atmosphere when the Supreme Court heard an appeal from environmentalist and attorney M.C. Mehta regarding Delhi’s polluting industries in March 1995. A court judgement required more than 1,300 highly polluting companies to close their doors and vacate Delhi’s residential areas.
In 1996, Mr Mehta launched yet another public interest case, this time claiming that air pollution and automotive emissions posed a threat to the public’s health. The Supreme Court took independent action and instructed the Delhi administration to develop an action plan to minimise pollution in response to the Centre for Science and Environment’s assessment of Delhi’s air quality that year. Both instances were later consolidated.
Later that year, the Delhi government published an action plan. A request from the Supreme Court to the Ministry of Environment and Forests led to the establishment of the Environmental Pollution Control Authority of Delhi NCR (EPCA) in 1998. When making decisions and carrying out directives, the Supreme Court recognised the need of expert advice and counsel.
Following the EPCA’s submission of its report and a two-year action plan in June of that year, the Supreme Court subsequently ordered the conversion of the entire Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus fleet, taxi fleet, and auto fleet to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), as well as the phase-out of all pre-1990 vehicles.
In order to identify significant pollutants, the Center also decided to restructure its monitoring programme and establish a network of monitoring stations under the National Air Quality Programme (NAMP). According to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) set by the Central Pollution Control Board, pollutants such as PM10 (particulate matter having a diameter larger than 10 microns), sulphur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides were evaluated (CPCB) (CPCB) (CPCB).

Alterations to the air quality standards:

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) were revised in 2009 to include 12 categories of pollutants, including PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns), a dangerous pollutant that can get into the bloodstream and inhale deeply into the lungs, potentially affecting other organs in addition to the heart and lungs.
Breathing in particulate matter (PM), which are very minuscule liquid or solid particles, can be harmful to one’s health. In a wide range of industries, including transportation, energy, construction, commerce, and agriculture, fuel combustion is the main producer of particulate matter.
For PM2.5 and PM10, the new NAAQS sets yearly limits of 40 g/m3 and 60 g/m3, respectively. The most recent WHO recommendations are for a PM2 yearly average of 5 g/m3. Tolerable PM10 concentrations range between 5 and 15 g/m3.
The MoEFCC prepared the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the early months of 2017 in response to the Supreme Court’s directive for Delhi and NCR officials to develop an action plan to combat air pollution. This method, which was coordinated by several authorities in Delhi, was used to implement reactive pollution management measures in response to rising Air Quality Index (AQI) data.

Delhi’s present air pollution is brought on by:

The rapid urbanisation and industrialization of Delhi, as well as the growth of the fleet of motorised private vehicles, have all contributed to an increase in the concentration of pollutants like particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and ozone, say a number of studies conducted over the years, including the Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s (DPCC) 2019 report by experts from IIT Delhi and Madras.
Despite the expulsion of many destructive corporations from the city in the 1990s, Delhi nevertheless has one of the largest clusters of small businesses. The CPCB notes that a number of Delhi’s polluting industrial clusters fall short of standards for the quality of the land, water, and air.
Each element that affects Delhi’s PM2.5 levels, such as diesel generators, household emissions, industry, road dust, construction, burning of waste and stubble, burning of biomass for cooking, and burning of garbage, has been assigned a percentage in numerous studies.
Experts have generally agreed that the policy approach and actions taken by Central and State authorities for specific polluting businesses over the years have been fragmented and frequently reactive.
Experts stress the need for a concerted effort to solve Delhi’s waste management in order to reduce air pollution. Despite the city producing more than 10,000 tonnes of rubbish every day, Delhi’s landfills only have a capacity of less than 6,000 tonnes.

Burning hay or agricultural waste:

Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan are some of the states that surround Delhi. These states need to improve government machinery subsidies, identify alternatives to agricultural burning, and regulate airsheds. An airshed is a term used to describe a typical geographic area where pollutants gather.
The Indo-Gangetic airshed, which also includes Delhi, encompasses the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, and West Bengal. A 2019 study found that Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are in charge of more than half of Delhi’s PM2.5 weight. An airshed management strategy would need to coordinate government responses.

Existing initiatives:

The Union Environment Ministry has suggested a 50 crore programme to entice business owners to construct facilities for the torrefaction and pelletization of paddy straw. Paddy straw that has been torrefied or pelletized may be mixed with coal in thermal power plants. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana conserve coal and reduce the amount of carbon emissions that would have been produced by forgoing the burning of straw on the fields.
In order to provide farmers with a variety of mechanised tools to clear their fields of rice crop residue in preparation for sowing wheat, the Center is working with the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Regulations must be adhered to under the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority, or EPCA, which was established by the Supreme Court (now it has been replaced by a new statutory body called CAQM) (now it has been replaced by a new statutory body called CAQM) (now it has been replaced by a new statutory body called CAQM).
Earlier, PUSA Decomposers, capsules made from fungal strains that speed up the decomposition of paddy straw, were developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) at Pusa. The generation of the essential enzymes required for the breakdown process is aided by the fungus. The Delhi government started misting bio-decomposer solution on the city’s rice fields to stop stubble burning.

A new ruling structure:

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which was first constituted by ordinance, was to take the position of the Supreme Court-founded EPCA. The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021 then gave it legal standing.
The CAQM has replaced the national and state pollution control boards (CPCB & SPCBs) of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

CAQM’s authority and powers:

It has the power to provide directives to these state governments regarding issues of air pollution.
Air pollution cases fall within the sole purview of the NCR, which also has authority over parts of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana. It works together with the CPCB and ISRO in addition to the corresponding state governments.
If its directives are not followed, it has the authority to impose a fine of up to Rs 1 crore and a prison term of up to 5 years.

Moving ahead:

The entire agricultural value chain needs to be altered if the area is to meet its goals for fighting climate change, improving air quality, water use, and ensuring adequate nourishment. Practically speaking, this implies dramatically reducing the region’s paddy production and replacing it with other well-liked, high-yielding, and agro-ecologically sound crops, such as cotton, maize, pulses, and oil seeds.
It will also be essential to build trust with farmers in order to give them the required financial assistance and to make sure they are seen as partners rather than criminals.
Additionally, it necessitates that decision-makers understand the intricate links between agriculture, nutrition, water, the environment, and the economy that exist in the Anthropocene. There are always second and third order repercussions on the first issue when dealing with two different problems independently.

Conclusion: