As autumn sets in, the prospect of the dreaded November smog looms large over Delhi and National Capital Region. Though the government claims to have taken a slew of steps to encourage non-polluting practices among people and to dissuade them from the polluting ones, there is a general worry that these measures could be too litttle to tackle the complex issue.
Even in the monsoon season, there were barely two “good” air quality days. The Air Quality Index (AQI) has gone back to “poor” for most of last week. On Monday, the emergency plan to tackle the air pollution kicked in with the Badarpur Thermal Power Station shutting down permanently. Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who launched the Air Quality Emergency Early Warning System and its website at the Indian Metereological Department, listed a number of interventions already done and in the pipeline. For instance, to prevent stubble burning in nearby states, the government has released Rs 591 crore of the sanctioned Rs 1,151 crore. This is for the purchase of equipment like happy seeder, for mulching the stubble into the fields.
Reports, however, indicate that though in some fields, there have been attempts to implement this sustainable farming initiative, it will take time before farmers chuck old habits. Such equipment is expensive, despite the easy loans, and often the farm size is too small for mechanisation. Farmers also feel that it is easier to pay the fine if caught burning the stubble than to change their ways. Already, the authorities have detected 699 stubble fires in Punjab and another 923 in Haryana. These are much lower figures compared with last year. The season of stubble burning has only started, and even at half the number of fires from previous years, the damage from the smoke will still be significant.
Among other preventive measures, the government opened the Western Peripheral Expressway in May to prevent entry of trucks into Delhi city, while the Eastern Peripheral Expressway will open on November 1.
The government has also announced that the brick kilns which do not switch over to the cleaner zig-zag technology, will not be allowed to operate in the National Capital Region. Of the 1,131 industrial units in Delhi, 950 have switched over to the cleaner Petroleum Natural Gas fuel, and the others have been issued notices to shut down.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has deployed 41 teams to check for dust mitigation methods at construction sites. The municipal corporations of Delhi will have 400 water sprinklers at their disposal for dust control. However, the attempt to spray gallons of water from a high-rise last winter in the ITO area, resulted only in water wastage and slush.
The government has been able to provide figures to say that its systems are in place this time. However, November is a difficult month air quality-wise, even without human intervention. With temperature inversion, the bad air gets trapped at the lower levels. To worsen the situation, these are days with barely any wind to clear the air. Only the coming days will show how effective the clean air effort will be.
