As Winter Approaches And Pollution Rises, Delhi Govt Yet To Have A Proper 'Odd-Even' Plan

The Delhi government apparently has not chalked out any plans as yet to implement the odd-even scheme as an emergency measure this winter.

Though officials remained tight lipped and no one was available for comment, sources said nothing concrete had been discussed as yet. No alternative action plan to deal with air pollution, which is likely to worsen in the coming days, is on the anvil either.

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The World Health Organisation had recently highlighted how toxic air is responsible for more than 6 lakh premature deaths nationally. Most cities across the globe have a response plan for severe smog episodes.

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In line with this practice, the Beijing environmental authorities issued a yellow alert on Tuesday, directing industries and construction sites to reduce emissions and advising citizens to reduce exposure to smog. They have also completely prohibited straw burning besides announcing other interventions. Yellow alert is the third highest warning level in Beijing.

On the contrary, in Delhi where the air quality index (AQI) has already started recording "poor" levels, the government doesn't yet have an emergency response plan or a health advisory for its citizens.

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Government sources said that due to multiplicity of stakeholders, "organising odd-even is a logistical nightmare". They added that no long-term impact would be seen unless the neighbouring states, which contribute to Delhi's air pollution, take "corrective measures".

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A senior environment department official said: "The National Green Tribunal had asked us to find out whether the odd-even scheme had any significant impact on air quality. It's difficult to explain that it did have an impact but not significant enough. If the courts do not approve of the idea, I don't see how it can be implemented again."

However, government officials confirmed there is no specific strategy yet to address high air pollution phases. "We have written to neighbouring states¡ªHaryana, UP and Punjab¡ªabout a complete ban on agricultural waste burning. We have also started a campaign to control cracker use this Diwali. As of now, this is our plan," said another official.

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Experts believe this lack of preparedness will mean another bad winter and poor health for the vulnerable population in the city. "We will certainly need emergency action when the air quality starts deteriorating. We don't need just odd-even but other actions to address all sources like shutting down of Badarpur power plant, restriction on firecrackers, penalty for open burning of waste and no-emission norm for construction projects," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, head of CSE's clean air programme.

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Confirming that the odd-even strategy slowed down the peaking of air pollution, she said it also reduced exposure of people to toxic emissions on severe smog days. "But the Delhi government should have worked on garnering public support by making buses available and improving last-mile connectivity. Bus numbers are declining now due to old buses going out of operation," Roy Chowdhury added.

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The SC-mandated Environment Pollution Control Authority had submitted that pollution peaks did come down during the odd-even phases in January and April 2016. The CPCB, however, told NGT that there was no air quality benefit from the scheme and that, in fact, pollution levels had increased during Phase II of the odd-even scheme. NGT recently directed the Delhi government to convene a meeting in order to prepare a plan to counter high pollution levels.

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Nandikesh Sivalingam, senior campaigner at Greenpeace India, said the emergency action plan should be for the entire Indo-Gangetic plains.

"Scientific studies have highlighted that a large portion of Delhi's pollution comes from outside the city. The IIT Kanpur report has already highlighted the 20 different sources of emissions. So, the emergency action plan should cover the region and all these sources," he said.

Sivalingam said there were six coal-fired power plants within a 100-km radius of Delhi, which are major sources of pollution. IIT Kanpur's source apportionment study had concluded that nearly one-third of PM pollution can be attributed to emissions from sources outside Delhi.