Air pollution set to rise in Delhi this winter
As per the AQI, the air quality in Delhi has already started to deteriorate.
into the capital by just paying a small sum to the police.
However, according to sources at the Municipal Corporation of South Delhi and North Delhi, the municipal bodies are working towards blocking the leakages in the tax collection system, as they are in the process of installation of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags at all entry points in Delhi.
Not only this, the burning of crop stubble, that has already started in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab, is also contributing to air pollution. Despite the NGT’s order on keeping a check on stubble burning, the state administrations have not been able to do much.
The air quality in Delhi has already started to deteriorate, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) showing the level of pollutants in Delhi’s air at unhealthy levels at all times in the national capital and post Diwali, the Supreme Court’s ban on the sale of fire crackers has also not been able to act as a deterrent to curb air pollution in the city.
Though the number of firecrackers used on the night of Diwali seemed to be less than in previous years, the pollution level in the city rose 10 times the normal levels on the morning post Diwali, making the air hazardous and unfit for outdoor activities. Anumita Roychowdhury, Project Director at the Centre for Science and Environment, told The Sunday Guardian, “The governments of all the states should provide with do-able solutions both in terms of vehicular pollution as well as in terms of stopping stubble burning during winter. The governments also need to scale their policies in terms of ways to tackle air pollution as it directly impacts the children and the elderly.”
Little has been done to check dust pollution in Delhi. Vacuum cleaning that was supposed to be taken up on a proactive basis by the municipal corporations, have hardly been able to achieve any result. However, according to Anumita Roychowdhury, vacuum cleaning of roads is just one method to control dust. What the corporations are supposed to do is plant trees, check on construction waste and also have a proper plan in place to fight dust pollution. Last year, according to the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) report submitted to the Supreme Court (SC), the air quality post Diwali was worse than 14 times the normal AQI in Delhi. The air quality in Delhi was even worse than the “Great Smog of London” in 1952.
According to Roychowdhury, this year, a Graded Response Action Plan framed by the EPCA under the guidance of the apex court is in place to implement during an emergency when the AQI crosses the “Severe or Emergency” levels. The Graded Response Action Plan, which has been notified and has a legal sanctity, has come into effect from 17 October. According to the Plan, during the “Severe or Emergency” period, when the PM 2.5 and PM 10 crosses five times above the standard levels, entry of trucks to Delhi would be stopped, all construction activities would also be stopped, schools shut, the Odd-Even scheme would be implemented, diesel generators banned and parking fees would be increased 3-4 times, among other measures.
Since 17 October, as the AQI moved to unhealthy levels, diesel generators have already been banned, and the Badarpur power plant has been shut down to curb air pollution as mandated by the SC-monitored EPCA. Participation of women in sports in India is witnessing a paradigm shift. Experts and professionals in the field of sports research feel that India is going through an attitudinal change in respect to women’s participation in sports, both at the levels of society and government. Ravneet Pahwa, Executive Director of Deakin University (South Asia), told The Sunday Guardian, “I think that the current government has placed a lot of importance on sports and particularly on women’s participation in sports. This government has started to think of policies that have never been thought about earlier. There seems to be an attitudinal change at the government level as well. However, it is a long journey and we are just at the start of the word ‘Go’, and the finish line is far off. We need the government to fasttrack its policies. The society also needs to change its attitude towards women in sports.”
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has taken proactive steps in terms of improving sporting facilities and infrastructure in the country and has sanctioned over Rs 100 crore under the “Khelo India” scheme, launched in 2016.
According to International Olympic Committee data, the participation of women in sports has also been increasing with every passing year. From the 2004 Olympics to the 2016 Olympics, women’s participation has increased by over 5%. In the 2016 Rio Olympics, about 45% of the total participants were women. However, several experts point out structural problems that the society faces in terms of lack of participation of women in sports. Ravneet Pahwa added: “The structure of support for women to participate in sports needs to be built right from the school level. In most schools in India, we have a physical education class for just half-an-hour. Most schools are confused as to what should be done during that period. In urban schools as well, parents generally do not allow their girl child to participate in sports.” Dr Geoff Schoenberg, a postdoctoral research fellow at the department of management, Deakin University, told this newspaper, “In Australia, all sporting commissions had mandated that 40% of their board members have to be women. Not all the organisations have been able to reach that target yet, but about 30% of the board members of all national federations in Australia are women, but in India at least one-third organisations don’t have any women in their board and about half of them have just 10% of board members as women. Unless we have women in the board, the change will not be possible.”