No breather for Delhi as promises go up in smog

NEW DELHI: A Supreme Court-appointed panel on Monday admonished authorities in Delhi and the National Capital Region, reminding them that emergency measures could not be a substitute for long-term action in the fight against pollution.

In a strongly worded report on the enforcement of the anti-pollution Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the EPCA told the SC that Delhi would need to take radical steps such as temporarily banning all diesel vehicles if the air quality did not get better.

Delhi is reeling from alarming pollution levels for one week, with the city’s air quality index (AQI) consistently above the “severe” mark. On Monday, the average daily AQI was 460 — the same as Sunday and close to the season-high 486 — exposing the administration’s inability to come up with viable solutions to deal with what has become an annual public health emergency.

The EPCA criticised the poor public transport system in Delhi and power shortage in NCR, calling them deterrents in implementing an anti- pollution plan. “In Delhi, there are fewer buses on the road than there were three years ago... The power situation across NCR is also unsatisfactory,” the report said.

The panel also asked for stronger laws so that clean air measures could be enforced in a time-bound manner. “Any direction is as good as its implementation… it is clear we need a better system,” the panel said.

Earlier on Monday, the Delhi government filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal (NGT), asking it to reconsider its position on the odd-even road rationing scheme.