The air quality in India¡¯s national capital is no good and it climbs to hazardous levels every winter. The factors? Stubble burning in adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana, along with utter disregard for the environmental norms that Delhiites show year after year, and despite strict regulations prohibiting them from doing so.
INDIATIMES
But, there is much more to it and a close look at the rise of New Delhi as the bustling metropolis that it has emerged as today unravels a sordid state of affairs. For starters, the city has multiplied manifold, both in population, infrastructure and pollution-causing agents such as automobile, consumption of electricity and the use of air conditioners, which release the harmful chloro fluoro carbons (CFCs) that further aggravate environmental concerns.
At the same time, as Delhi grew exponentially, emerged sub-cities such as Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad along its borders. They provided cheaper accommodation as well as office spaces as compared to Delhi and soon urbanized at a scale perhaps never imagined before. They also became centres of many smaller industries that release harmful gases into the air, and many of them remained unauthorised or functioned illegally.?
INDIATIMES
As it is even four days after the country celebrated Diwali, the pollution levels in Delhi continues to affect its residents badly. Breathing seems to have become a luxury in the national capital just as sights of school children, office-goers wearing masks has become the new norm. The air pollution levels refuses to come down and at present, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital is hovering around the 412-mark.
While there is a collective outrage over the rising pollution and its ill effects on public health, we seldom pause to reflect that the situation is almost the same every year. This is not to suggest that the outrage is not justified, but perhaps misplaced.?
INDIATIMES
From the odd-even scheme to some strict orders by NGT such as preventing polluting vehicles from plying in the national capital, we have surely tried a number of ways to combat pollution in the region. Even though the ban on crackers has not been completely successful, perhaps everybody will agree that they have decreased manifold compared to previous years.?
What then is preventing Delhi from reclaiming its clean air and blue skies??
Long years ago, when the city of Delhi was planned and the foundations of what would become one of the major power centres in the 21st century were laid, there were vast stretches of green forests and dozens of water bodies that dotted the landscape.?
RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN ARCHIVES
Today, the forests are gone and most water bodies have dried up with only a handful remaining that host boat-rides for tourists while their natural splendour has already been lost. In fact, there used to be famous boat clubs in Delhi too, once upon a time.?
The Delhi Darbar was held in December 1911, and that marked the shifting of British India¡¯s capital from Calcutta to Delhi. What¡¯s important to note here is that Calcutta (now Kolkata) was seen to be the centre of commerce, whereas Delhi was meant to symbolize power and glory.?
British architect Edwin Lutyens was selected to plan India¡¯s new Capital and was part of the Delhi Town Planning Committee. He and his colleagues, who were experts in sanitation found the northern part of the city, Kingsway Camp region, to be highly vulnerable to floods given its proximity to the Yamuna River and finally the Raisina Hill, which provided spacious high ground and better drainage, seemed an appropriate option around which the capital would emerge.?
But a century down the line, Delhi is no longer what it was planned to be -- a seat of power and glory. It has instead become everything that Calcutta had become just before the capital of British India was transferred to Delhi -- a centre of commerce. Blame it on the prevalent corruption in Indian politics or the forces of globalization that helped in the emergence of multinational companies in the city, which in turn attracted migrants in huge numbers in anticipation of better prospects. Together, all of these have choked Delhi to the extent that even breathing is a luxury here.?
INDIATIMES
People and pro-environment groups are calling for the shutting down of schools, sports stars are demanding change of venues for major games and similar events and altogether, if everybody had their say they would perhaps escape the gas chamber for any better alternative. In other words, Delhi seems to have outlived its span as the capital and it¡¯s perhaps time that those in power considered exploring other options for a new capital.?
This will help reduce the pressure on the existing city and will, over a period of time, help it regain its natural splendour. At the same time, building a new capital may be an ambitious task but if done, it will incorporate today¡¯s needs and requirements.?
Every step to combat pollution in Delhi will continue to fail because pressure on the city has increased manifold than it was originally designed to withstand. It was designed as a seat of power and glory and not as a commercial hub. Looking for an alternative whilst there is still time in hand may also actually help us build a better capital in the longer run, one that will stand the test of time and which is designed after taking the challenges of today into consideration.?
INDIATIMES
And there shouldn¡¯t be any shame in it too. Change is the only permanent phenomenon and we will not be the only ones or the first ones doing it. Indonesia's president Joko Widodo, for example, had recently announced that the country's capital will move from "overcrowded, sinking and polluted" Jakarta to a site in sparsely populated East Kalimantan province on Borneo island, which is known for rainforests and orangutans. He informed the people of his country that intense studies over the past three years had resulted in the choice of the location on the eastern side of Borneo island.
If all options to fight pollution are on the table, why not consider shifting the capital from Delhi, or building a new capital in accordance to the challenges of today so that the existing ¡°gas chamber¡± may be allowed to declutter itself and regain its natural bliss and splendour over a period of time?