Odd-even gone, city doesn't know why air not clear yet (TOI)

New Delhi:

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Is There A Need For Change In Approach? Experts Debate

If these (steps) didn't reduce pollution, what would, asked an exasperated Supreme Court on May 1, a day after the odd-even scheme ended with no apparent fall in air pollution.

The judges listed a series of measures that have been taken over the years apart from the two-phase odd-even. These steps include a ban on registration of diesel vehicles over 2000cc, an environment compensation charge on trucks plying through the city and a CNG requirement for public transport vehicles and taxis.

Supreme Court of India has taken initiative to try and control the rising level of pollution in Delhi. But, from the news article published in "Times of India" it seems that the h'ble judges of supreme court are either too dumb or don't have sufficient advice available to understand the impact of the proposed solutions.

Coming to the main topic (NEWS Headlines: Odd-even gone, city doesn't know why air not clear yet) we need to ask ourselves that are these measures really good enough to curb the pollution level? Not being an expert but from the point of view of a layman, let’s try to understand a few things:

Odd-Even scheme: The traffic density in Delhi and nearby areas has increased manifold s in recent years. But traffic in Delhi still contributes 10-15% of pollution in Delhi ⁽¹⁾. Considering the odd even scheme as implemented in first 2 phases; the pollution level can be dropped by about 50% in ideal case since half the vehicles will only be there on the roads. Now add the exceptions. Two wheelers are exempted which individually cause lower pollution than cars but due to their huge numbers they contribute almost as much of the pollution as cars do. So, half the amount of reduced pollution level can be added back (Thus only 25% reduction ideally) Now we can add the pollution due to exemption to VVIPs, ladies, commercial vehicles etc and the effective reduction in vehicular pollution is only 10-15%. Now the vehicles contribute about 15% to total pollution; means that only about 2% of total pollution is controlled ideally (10-15% reduction of 15% of total pollution caused due to vehicles) Of course these are not exact numbers but it gives a picture about why pollution level has not decreased even after odd-even scheme.

The second step taken by h’ble Supreme Court was to ban the registration of diesel vehicles above 2000cc. Even though the move is appreciated, the question is what will be its impact on air pollution. These cars include a number of luxury cars like AUDI, BMW, Mercedes etc. and few vehicles more commonly used for commercial purpose like Bolero. As per information available (unconfirmed), there are more than 85 Lakh vehicles registered in Delhi as on  31-03-2015 ⁽²⁾; and also that the sale of these vehicles contribute a very low amount to total vehicles sale in Delhi. For example, Maruti Swift alone had an average sales figure of more than 15000 units per month in 2015-16, which is even higher than total vehicular sales affected by this decision to ban some vehicles registration. So, why ban only a few selected vehicles. Secondly the vehicles can be registered by the affluent class in other states and can be used in Delhi as only registration is banned not the sales or their use (as of date). So, why are we crying that pollution level has not come down when we have targeted only the minor contributor to the pollution?

An environment compensation charge on trucks plying through the city: Seriously? Do we really expect it to have any considerable effect on the pollution level? We are not banning them but only taking extra charges to allow them to pollute the air. These vehicles are mostly used for commercial purposes and barring a few, most others will simply pass on these additional charges to the end-users/ consumers who will bear the heat of these charges. How do we actually expect it to have any visible effect on air pollution?

Residents of Delhi may still remember the days when most vehicles used to run on diesel and petrol and no CNG. The pollution level on roads especially was so high that it had become dangerous to venture out on the roads and inhale the polluted air. Then came a decision to convert all the buses/taxis etc to CNG. And the result was a much cleaner Delhi. That kind of change is what is required now. A change in technology, a step forward to move to a better technology is what is required to move ahead. These minor steps taken as an initiative are appreciated but are not going to have any major impact on pollution level in the long run. And it needs a commitment from the citizens of Delhi and those from nearby areas to make the change effective.

Sources:

⁽¹⁾ The first major study was carried out in 2008 by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI). It identified road dust as the biggest contributor (52.5%) to particulate matter in Delhi’s air, followed by industries (22.1%). The study attributed only 6.6% of particulate emissions to vehicles. For NOx, the study found industries contributed 79% and vehicles 18%; vehicles were the main source for CO and hydrocarbons: 59% and 50% respectively - See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/vehicle-exhaust-dust-what-fouls-the-air-the-most-studies-disagree/#sthash.DOe5ED5K.dpuf

⁽²⁾ The Delhi Statistical Handbook 2014-15, a report by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Delhi Government, reveals there are 88.27 lakh registered vehicles in Delhi as on 31 March 2015. Four-wheelers that include cars, jeeps and taxis constitute 32.51% of the total vehicles registered with the Transport Department of Delhi.

Interestingly, two-wheelers far outnumber four-wheelers, making up around 64% (nearly double the number of four-wheelers) of the vehicles plying on Delhi roads.