Chief Minister Rekha Gupta will table the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report titled ‘Prevention and Mitigation of Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi, 2021’ in the Delhi Assembly on Tuesday. This will be eighth report of the pending 14 CAG reports. The report will shed light on the performance of the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Arvind Kejriwal Government during the COVID-19.
“Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to lay the copies of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on ‘Performance Audit on Prevention and Mitigation of Vehicular Air Pollution in Delhi’ relating to Government of NCT of Delhi for the year ended March 31, 2021,” read the ‘List of Business’ issued by Assembly for Tuesday.
The House proceeding will continue the discussion regarding water shortage, water logging, sewerage blocking and desilting of drains under the short duration discussion.
“The eighth CAG report will table in Delhi Assembly tomorrow. This CAG report on ‘Prevention Of Air Pollution From Vehicles’ will be the sixth CAG report to be presented in this session of the Assembly. There will be a discussion on this report in the next two days. Delhi Assembly is competent to take any decision if it is found that there was corruption in the past,” Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said, while talking to reporters. According to media reports, the CAG report has uncovered several shortcomings across various departments of the previous AAP Government in Delhi, which may have contributed to the authorities’ failure to effectively tackle air pollution in the national Capital.
The report highlights that vehicular emissions were the major source of pollution in Delhi, with their origins within the city, making them potentially controllable by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). Consequently, the CAG audit focused on assessing whether the Delhi Government had taken adequate steps to mitigate vehicular emissions impacting the city’s air quality.
Among the key findings, the CAG report pointed to significant gaps in the government’s efforts to control vehicular emissions. These included a lack of information regarding the types and numbers of vehicles operating in Delhi and an absence of comprehensive assessments of their emission loads. Additionally, the report flagged the shortage of public transport buses and inadequate last-mile connectivity, which contributed to increased reliance on personal vehicles.
The Delhi Government also failed to implement cleaner alternatives such as ‘Monorail and Light Rail Transit’ and ‘Electronic Trolley Buses.’ The audit also observed that the AAP-led Delhi Government had not taken any action to implement the “Delhi Management and Parking Places Rules,” which are designed to prevent vehicle stagnation and alleviate traffic congestion caused by haphazard parking.
According to the report, Delhi’s air quality was classified as ‘poor’ to ‘severe’ for 1,195 out of 2,137 days (56 per cent) over the past five years, resulting in significant health risks to the population.
The audit further flagged concerns about the location of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations (CAAQMS), stating that these stations did not meet the requirements set by the Central Pollution Control Board, which could lead to inaccurate data and unreliable Air Quality Index (AQI) values.
In total, 12 such reports are scheduled to be presented before the House by the ruling BJP. Earlier, the Chief Minister had presented the CAG report on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Delhi’s public health infrastructure and health services and liquor policy of the previous AAP Government.
