The 21-point action plan announced by the Delhi government to combat air pollution during winter may fail to deliver the goods like the previous ones as it is devoid of any concrete measures to tackle problems like higher vehicular emissions and stubble burning, which have been identified as major air pollutants. Due to lower temperatures, these pollutants get trapped in the air and pollute Delhi’s air every year, and so far, the authorities have found no effective measures to control the menace. As a result, the national capital continues to suffer every winter, especially in the months of November and December, because of poor to very poor air quality. Although the action plan has announced ambitious plans like artificial rains to combat air pollution, the city residents are not very hopeful that even such a plan will help the city breathe fresh air.
As a matter of fact, falling air quality is a multi-dimensional problem that can only be solved with the help of proper planning and its strict implementation and a very high level of public awareness and participation. In the case of Delhi, we have heard about various plans over the years. But none became successful as the authorities have failed to execute the plans properly. Also, these plans never received the requisite popular support. For example, vehicular pollution is one of the main reasons for poor air quality in Delhi, but the odd-even plan to reduce vehicular pollution in Delhi received a muted response from the people when the plan was in force. Moreover, since the government first introduced the plan, resistance has been continuously growing against similar measures without realising that unless vehicular pollution is checked in Delhi, the national capital will never be safe to breathe. Thus, it is quite strange that the new 21-point action plan has not thrown much light on methods to curb vehicular emissions.
The other problem the national capital is facing in the battle with polluted air is the lack of a proactive attitude. The latest action plan has not suggested what the government wants to do if the air quality of the city deteriorates below the permissible level. It has not chalked out any plans to strike at the root causes of pollution. Apart from vehicular emissions, stubble burning is another source of air pollution. But nothing has changed on the ground over the years, despite much talk and many action plans. The solution to the problem lies in providing an alternative to the farmers to enable them to get rid of their agricultural waste properly without polluting the air. But so far, we have not seen any sincere effort on the part of the state governments plagued by the problem, apart from quarrelling with each other over failures to prevent stubble burning. So it is time to realise that lofty thoughts or ideas will not be sufficient to clean the air; rather, it is time to formulate a proper response to the air pollution menace without indulging in knee-jerk reactions.
