EPCA’S pollution cure: Ban noncng vehicles
‘IMPRACTICAL’ 90% of all cars, twowheelers on authority radar; experts call plan kneejerk
NEWDELHI: The national capital’s primary pollution control and prevention agency on Monday suggested imposing a complete ban on all non-cng vehicles, both private and commercial, if pollution remains at ‘very poor’ or ‘severe’ levels — a measure that experts and stakeholders described as impractical, kneejerk, and symptomatic of the haphazard manner in which the war against bad air is being fought.
The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control)
Authority [EPCA] said after a meeting that it was asking the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to look at the feasibility, and if it would help cut pollution.
“EPCA believes that in the scenario that weather remains adverse and that the current situation of air quality remains in the same category or deteriorates,
there is no other option but to direct for a complete stop on the use of private and commercial vehicles other than those plying on CNG,” a statement issued by the Supreme Court-appointed body said.
Ironically, the recommendation was made on a day when EPCA said three existing bans – on construction activity, entry of trucks into the city, and industries running on coal and biomass – would be relaxed on a technicality that the pollution level on the air quality index fell to 399, marginally below the 400+ ‘severe’ level it was in for the past three days. It also said air quality may improve because of favourable weather conditions over the next two days.
When asked how EPCA could lift three key bans on one hand while calling for a measure that can cripple the city’s transport system on the other, member Sunita Narain said: “Construction activity and trucks entering Delhi are both economic activities. They have been stuck for the past few days. Everyone [including vehicle owners] must share in the fight against pollution.”
Another EPCA official, however, said when the ban on noncng vehicles was informally discussed at a meeting two days ago, the consensus was that it should not be recommended because it would burden the city since the alternatives to private vehicle use were not sufficient. “I don’t know what changed in the last two days,” said the member, who asked not to be named.
The Capital has about 10.8 million registered vehicles — 3.5 million four-wheelers and 7.3 million two-wheelers — which serve as the lifeblood of a city that is not adequately serviced by mass public transport despite a growing Metro system. Of these vehicles, about 800,000 run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
Multiple studies have suggested that vehicular emissions contribute less than 20% to Delhi’s pollution.
The main problem, transport experts say, is last-mile connectivity for which Delhi’s feeder buses have not been enough, and whose number has reduced from 5,852 last year to 5,443 this year.
“I don’t know if they are seriously considering it. But the movement of people will completely collapse if such a move is brought in. It is not possible because we only have half of the buses that the city actually needs. Also, the proportion of CNG private vehicles is negligible in the city,” said Sanjay Gupta of transport and planning department at the School of Planning and Architecture.
He said instead of such impractical decisions, the authorities need to introduce various mobility management measures, at least on a pilot basis.
The logic that EPCA gave for not isolating most-polluting older vehicles, or sorting vehicles by fuel-type, was that they were hard to identify. “The vehicle sticker scheme has still not been implemented, and without this it is not possible to distinguish between diesel and other fuelled vehicles. However, CNG vehicles have stickers and also it is understood that all public transport vehicles are fuelled by CNG,” the EPCA statement said.
Experts say the big problem with Delhi’s fight against pollution remains that the key stakeholders implement no long-term measures in the non-polluted months, and resort only to panic steps when the emergency is already upon the city in the winter months.
The odd-even road rationing scheme implemented with several exemptions in 2015 and 2016 was another example of this – multiple studies showed that its impact on pollution was minimal (between 3-8%), which was not worth the inconvenience it caused.
“The build-up of pollution takes place because of long-term meteorological conditions — it’s not a one-day affair. Once pollution has already built up, banning the sources of pollution doesn’t really help. This action must be taken following a layered approach for controlling these sources – first identify the sources then consider reducing these sources right from the start of winter. That is the correct way, rather than impractical and knee-jerk measures,” said Mukesh Khare, an EPCA member and professor of environmental engineering at Iitdelhi.
It is a view that the former head of CPCB’S air lab concurs with. “Delhi has got into a cycle of taking panic measures, which are not only impractical, and cannot help in the long run,” said D Saha. “It is important to understand that Delhi is now a sensitive zone in terms of pollution. People and authorities have to understand what living in and governing such a zone means. It is important to take measures all-year round and inculcate habits to decongest the city in order to reduce pollution. It is a fight to protect our lungs — it must be fought the right way.”
EPCA admits that emergency responses are no solution to Delhi’s pollution woes. “Grap [Graded Response Action Plan] is an emergency action plan. It cannot be a proxy or substitute for long-term pollution-reduction measures,” its Monday statement said.