Even, Odd, But What About Evening The Odds?

Even, Odd, But What About Evening The Odds?

The AAP government’s controversial executive order to reduce dangerous levels of air pollution in Delhi is unlikely to make a sufficient dent in it. We are talking about between 3 and 14 times above the safe limit in different parts. Nevertheless, it seeks to halve the number of private cars allowed to ply on any given day.

Meanwhile, we burn unseparated garbage and leaves  despite the bans. We bury toxic waste and foul the water and sub soil. Carrion birds feast in overflowing, putrefying, garbage dhalaos. We have no modern garbage processing plants at all.

This odds and evens effort promises chaos and hardship, given the inadequate state of our public transport. By itself, it cannot however appreciably better the quality of the air.

There are many other places one can cite that have dealt with such problems better; big cities like Paris, London, Moscow, helped by strong governments and huge conflagrations in congested slum areas. Once thus providentially cleared, there was scope to renew things. So there are worthwhile public transport systems, massive parks, walkways, cycle paths; often next to thriving rivers.  But, to be real, we need to look at ourselves, just the way we are.

Still, no doubt statistics will be trotted out, to show how well the anti-pollution drive has done. It will probably be extended. Why, the one voluntary traffic-free day, with the chief minister and his colleagues photographed on bicycles, also recorded an appreciable drop in air pollution levels.

But this putting half the cars of Delhi away, on pain of a yet to be announced quantum of fine, is, in any case, an untested novelty. It is a hopeful measure, instead of the much needed comprehensive approach.

The even-odd car scheme seeks to regulate over 75 lakh vehicles, registered in Delhi, growing at the rate of 1,500 a day. It will be for an initial fortnight’s trial. Some 8,000 traffic policemen are expected to retain their sanity while monitoring this. They are also tasked to let off badly maintained buses blowing clouds of black smoke, in fact the government will add many more to cope; three-wheelers, perhaps two-wheelers too, taxis, plain and radio callable ones, other public transport, plus unstoppable ambulances and hearses.  

The Delhi government hasn’t yet pronounced on what it proposes to do with all the cars registered in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Importantly, there is no green remedy proposed to address over 80,000 highly polluting trucks, that stream in and through Delhi every night. These leave high levels of smog laden pollution by dawn.

Clearly, beyond the tamasha planned for the private cars, come January 1^st 2016, much more needs to be done. Urgent construction of the long pending bypass roads for the trucks that are presently driving through, need to get out of the planning stages, and be swiftly implemented.

Truck depots outside the city, languishing for decades, need to be made functional. Fifteen year old vehicles, both commercial and light, must be compulsorily retired. Highly polluting two-stroke engined vehicles should be taken off the street.

Polluting industries, power plants, grim land-fills, and mountains of garbage have to be revamped and relocated. Some, like the malodorous industries in UP’s Sahibabad, which contribute to some of the highest particulate matter readings in colonies across the way, in Delhi, want to be sanitised.

What seems obvious however, is that a comprehensive and modern approach to town planning, inclusive of massive reforestation, creation of  large new open spaces, to act as the city’s lungs,  has been  and is, still totally missing in action.

This, even as India’s population explodes, ever since the inheritance of  1947.

Whatever green space Delhi does have today, and this is ironically much more than other Indian cities, is left over from colonial times.  Under Indian management, green areas and water bodies/lakes, have actually shrunk.  

Instead, unauthorised colonies have grown, on the edges of the ever expanding city. These are ugly and unplanned, lack basic amenities, exhibit highly unsanitary and dangerous conditions.

But instead of sorting them into habitable and organised spaces afresh, they are being regularised on an ad hoc as-is-where-is basis.

Floor area regulations for constructed buildings, their heights and footprints in Delhi, are also being raised to cater to much higher population density. Mixed areas that permit commercial and residential use together, are also being enhanced, in response to various lobbies and intercessions.

Statistically though, each green intervention to improve matters is bound to yield some limited results; but to get this right, Delhi will have to implement multi-pronged programmes, aimed at improving the quality of its urban habitats and surroundings.

This merits serious consideration, because 55% of Indians now live in the cities. And if this is the sorry and intractable state of the nation’s capital, what hope is there for others, including the 100 proposed ‘smart cities’ around the country?

For: The Quint

(808 words)

December 9^th, 2015

Gautam Mukherjee