Delhi’s Air Pollution: A Failure of Democratic Governance
Until indian leaders develop the political will to tackle air pollution, the problems won’t go away.
New Delhi’s air pollution problems are legendary, and like those of other major cities, they are tied in part to increasing urbanization. In India’s case, though, many of the solutions are evident and available, but failure of democratic governance are creating obstacles to dealing with problems the electorate actually wants solved, write Aseem Prakash and Nives Dolšak. Until leaders develop the political will to tackle air pollution, the problems won’t go away. the WORLD is becoming increasingly urbanized. About half of the world’s 8 billion people reside in urban areas.1 By 2050, this number will rise to about 7 billion, accounting for two-thirds of the global population. Agglomeration economies incentivize firms to locate in urban areas while the urban-rural wealth gap coupled with the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas, lead villagers to flock to cities.
there is much to celebrate about urbanization. Yet the continued, almost unchecked, pace of urbanization poses serious policy challenges. Air pollution is among these critical problems. the World health Organization (WHO) notes that 80 percent of urban residents experience air pollution levels exceeding WHO guidelines.2 Urban living is also energy-intensive. people often need to travel long distances for work, but do not have access to public transportation. consequently, they rely on personal transportation. it is not surprising that vehicular air pollution has emerged as the key factor contributing to poor urban air quality.
Along with air pollution, the increasing number of personal vehicles contribute to other policy problems. For example, traffic jams in urban areas are legendary. in Mexico city, an average commuter spends 219 hours a year stuck in traffic. similar stories can be told of Bangkok, Jakarta, Bucharest, istanbul, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing.
Air pollution problems reflect governance failure because cities’ transportation infrastructure has not kept pace with their growing populations. But cities alone are not to be blamed for their poor air quality. Winds might carry air pollution from sources outside a city’s administrative con
trol. take the example of seoul, which receives transboundary pollution from china. During the pre-monsoon summer months, singapore’s air quality deteriorates due to forest fires in indonesia and Malaysia. About 29 percent of san Francisco’s air pollution can be traced to china.3 thus, urban air pollution does not necessarily reflect governance failure at the city level; it could reflect governance problems at the national or even international level.
internal GOVERNANCE failures
indian cities face profound air pollution problems. According to the Lancet commission, in 2015, there were about 6.5 million premature deaths globally due to air pollution.4 india alone accounted for 1.81 million of those deaths. it has 9 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world.5 new Delhi, india’s capital, ranks sixth on this list.
new Delhi’s air pollution reflects both internal and regional governance failures. the causes for the two tend to be different, and so are the governance solutions. pollution levels vary across months due to its geography and meteorological factors. Within its administrative boundaries, the major sources of pm2.5 air pollution are: vehicular (30 percent), industrial (20 percent), open waste burning (20 percent) and road dust (15 percent).6 As with many other cities worldwide, Delhi’s citizens rely predominantly on road-based transportation. in the last two decades, authorities have sought to curb vehicular pollution in several ways; for example, the city boasts an excellent train system, the Delhi Metro. india also has adopted fuel standards on par with euro Vi standards. in response to a public interest petition, the supreme court of india ordered Delhi’s bus fleet to switch from diesel to compressed natural gas (cng). consequently, the Delhi transportation corporation, which runs public buses, manages the world’s largest cng bus fleet.7
Yet vehicular pollution is getting worse due to the increasing population that continues to rely on road-based transportation. For context, Delhi’s 2019 population stands at about 20 million, up from about 16.7 million in 2011. there are over 10 million registered vehicles (up from 1.8 million in 1990 and 3.8 million in 2000).8 electric cars and hybrids are virtually absent, and these vehicles tend to run on gasoline or diesel. the Delhi government has discouraged vehicle use via policies such as odd-even road rationing (cars with odd-numbered license plates drive on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while those with evennumbered cars drive on tuesday, thursday, and saturday).9 But such policies have not been effective. One reason is that the odd-even rule exempts women drivers and two-wheelers, with the latter accounting for the majority of vehicles. thus, the symbolic half steps to address pollution problems show the absence of political will to solve a thorny local air pollution issue.
Delhi is also experiencing a construction boom in the office, retail, and residential sectors. this also creates air pollution, because the government seldom enforces rules for controlling dust such as by regular spraying of water and installation of barriers around construction sites.10
episodic instances of landfill fires also contribute to the air polllution problem. the Delhi government officially shut the garbage dumps in 2009, yet around 80 percent of the 10,000 metric tons of waste generated daily finds its way to these dumps.11 Methane generated by organic waste builds up, leading to fires that generate toxic fumes.
stubble burning AND transboundary pollution problems
in addition to local sources of pollution, Delhi’s air quality is worsened by pollution from outside its administrative boundaries. these include