How the odds in Delhi’s pollution woes can be evened out
The recent measures taken by the Delhi government to improve the quality of air need our understanding and support, yet these aren’t even half measures.
Delhi’s pollution problems have been escalating for decades, but no government, central or state, paid attention. Our collective response has vacillated between denial and silence.
The uncontrolled and amoeboid growth of Delhi is the fundamental cause of the problem. The frenzied urban growth has resulted from the lax landuse policy and its poor enforcement.
It has been a free-for-all for far too long and the successive governments, instead of cleaning up the mess have been adding more to the existing clutter.
The most recent announcement of the "odd-even" formula to keep cars off roads is a small, but welcome step. However, the political expediency of keeping two wheelers out of its ambit is not lost on anyone.
Additionally, exemption to women drivers invoking fallacious safety concerns is being cynically populist. By sparing women drivers from the "odd-even" rule the government can at best claim to bring a very small percentage of women into the safety net.
What about the vast majority of women who have to brave it out in buses, trains and auto-rickshaws? Do their lives not matter as much as those who drive cars?
Or is it politically convenient to displease only half of the car-owning middle class? Notwithstanding several lacunae in the present scheme, it must be said that at least a start has been made.
Environmental pollution has finally become a part of Delhi’s shared narrative, which so far has only been obsessed with chronic politics. That said, we need to understand the challenges that are ahead of us to make a difference to the health of air and Delhi’s citizenry.
First, let us understand that Delhi is in close proximity to the Thar Desert, therefore, its suspended particulate matter [SPM] is and will be naturally high.
The hot and arid climate of Delhi and its environs makes it easier for the predominantly sandy soils to routinely blow off as dust, which then adds to the high SPM load in Delhi.
The policymakers of Delhi must be aware of this scientific fact and of the naturally low carrying capacity of Delhi’s air. Using vacuum cleaners to clean dust off Delhi’s roadsides is a strange approach to the pollution problem besides being an economic and technological challenge.
British rulers were aware of this problem over a century ago and for that reason they planted mesquite or Vilayti kikar (Prosopis juliflora) in the region. The Britishers had hoped to stop the march of the desert.
On the other hand, we have done everything to aid this desert’s march by converting lands into landmarks. The over-urbanisation of the region is primarily responsible for large quantity of dust and SPM that ends up in our lungs. We are reaping the harvest now.
What else can be done to reduce the level of air pollution in Delhi? We need to look at both administrative and technological interventions. One of the administrative tools is Singapore’s model of car ownership to control and manage private vehicles.
Singapore system is based on certificate of entitlement (COE) for car buyers. The COE is the license quota-based on a successful winning bid conducted through an open bidding system of car price auction.
This gives an owner the legal right to register, own and use a vehicle for a period of ten years. As the demand for vehicles rises, the cost of COE goes up too – at times higher than the market price of the car itself. For example, a car with a price tag of Rs 4 lakh would cost the owner anywhere between 6-8 lakh, depending on the auction price of COE.
COE of cars may also vary from brand to brand. This measure of COE system will not only bring down the number of cars in Delhi, it would also raise financial resources for the government, which can be used to spruce up and update public transport and road system in the city.
This pollution abatement administrative intervention may not raise much political storm because poor people don’t own cars. Moreover, it would be worthwhile giving Delhiites a better public transport system, which will be cross-subsidized by the income from COE.
At the same time those who can not afford higher car prices under COE regime can depend on the much improved public transport system.
Additionally, the government may introduce a weekend-car registration system in which an owner gets a number plate coloured red and needs to pay only 25-30 per cent of the current COE price.
However, the owner can operate his/her car only on holidays and over weekends. Any violation must attract heavy penalty and after three violations the owner’s weekend car registration number may be cancelled.
Second, we need to recognize that higher air pollution caused by vehicular emissions, which is the case in Delhi, is also a function of lower vehicular speed and engine idling.
The traffic snarls in Delhi are caused mostly by bad roads (pot holes), obstructions on the road by common citizens who display their goods and material on the roads, unauthorized parking of vehicles on the roads and roadsides, and slow moving traffic (all types, including manually driven carts) mixed with the fast moving one.
The best way to have better average speeds for vehicles is to keep the roads free from obstructions. Better traffic flows will significantly reduce congestion and pollution.
In order to manage Delhi’s road traffic better, a system of "Smart Maintenance of Roads and Rapid Traffic" [SMARRT] may be created. A number of SMARRT teams will monitor roads and keep them within the adequate vehicular speed.
These teams may be aided by an IT-based information management system where citizens can lodge complaints on bad road conditions or hurdles. The SMARRT response team will be dispatched immediately to the spot, which will set the road in order and get the traffic going. Fewer vehicles on roads for lesser amount of time are the key to reduce Delhi’s emission problems.
Besides, the citizen information network, CCTV cameras may be installed at vulnerable points on busy roads, which will help continuous road monitoring and rapid response. Installation of electronic display boards on roads will provide real time information on road conditions and traffic congestion for users to take alternate routes and detours.
Maintaining smooth traffic flow also calls for lane based driving that needs to be strictly enforced. The driving behavior of "my nose in front" needs a cultural change.
The drivers found violating the straight line lane driving rule must be penalised. Unless heavy fines and vehicle impoundment are enforced, the traffic congestion problem will continue even on Delhi’s best roads.
Third, Delhi needs a cadre of traffic wardens/supervisors with legal authority to book the offenders. Given Delhi police’s preoccupation with the capital’s security apparatus, the traffic wardens will be entirely dedicated to the city’s traffic management services. These personnel will be paid out of the financial resources raised from traffic violations.
The government does not need any additional budgetary provisions for this purpose. In fact, the government may end up creating a large number of jobs for the educated young in the service of a great cause.
The traffic wardens can supervise and monitor parking areas during non-peak hours and impose fines on the offenders who violate parking rules. A system of such traffic wardens in Singapore works very well wherein the warden carries a handheld machine and gives a ticket to the vehicle owner/driver depending on the nature of her/his traffic/parking violation.
The driver/owner gets one week to pay the fine at a post office/bank or a teller machine kept for the purpose of bill payments at various places in the city.
Fourth, keeping traffic density to the minimum possible requires entry to and parking of private vehicles in the Central Business Districts to come at a price.
An entry fee of Rs 30 (between 7.30 am - 10.30 am and 4 pm - 7.30 pm) and Rs 15 beyond peak hours must be charged to the drivers going into busy areas. It will encourage citizens to use public transport.
Why, for example, should a businessperson in Connaught Place bring in his/her own car which sits idle for the whole day and chokes the area. In any case, shops and private businesses open around 11 am, which is a good time for them to use public transport.
Fifth, a sensitive, but highly needed intervention, suggested by a former Delhi Municipal Councilor, Sanjay Puri, pertains to curbing of large-scale burning of wood across hundreds of Delhi’s ghats.
Thousands of tonnes of wood are burnt each day in funeral pyres. There is a need to create awareness among public and encourage people to use electric crematoriums instead of burning wood which adds significantly to Delhi’s air pollution.
A pledge campaign for using electric crematorium as the last bit for a pollution-free Delhi, on the lines of eye or organ donation may come useful for this cause. This is one of the difficult challenges, but foresight of politicians will go a long way in reducing Delhi’s air pollution woes.
Besides, the various technological and administrative instruments of air pollution, we need to bring in a cultural change in the way we drive, park and observe traffic rules.
A recent National green tribunal (NGT) order of not registering new vehicles in Delhi for the time being is a welcome move. This may be reviewed after six months, but a cap on the number of car registrations per month and their tenure (maximum ten years) in Delhi must be decided as soon as possible.