Coming out in support of odd-even scheme, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has lambasted “half-baked explanation” that odd-and-even has not worked and therefore “vehicles are not the problem”. In an analysis report, CSE has said that the air pollution took a downward dip during the first 10 days of the odd-even scheme but registered a sudden spike from April 22 onwards possibly due to burning of farm residues in Punjab and Haryana.
CSE has also recommended odd-even scheme as an important temporary emergency measure to help control worsening of pollution. “But this will have to be implemented along with longer term solutions for lasting air quality gains,” it said.
“Half-baked and irresponsible explanation of the air quality trend has led to misinterpretation of the benefit of the odd -even scheme and helped create the industry myth that vehicles are not the problem. India Spend (online data magazine) and the industry have failed to catch the reason for the sudden spike in pollution post-April 22. They have missed the massive crop fires that started around April 20 and got intense over time and elevated pollution not only in Delhi, but in other cities of northern India as well,” CSE said in a report.
“Pollution level declined during the initial phase of odd-even scheme for the first nine days -- between April 15 and April 23, PM2.5 levels declined substantially compared to the previous fortnight… The average PM2.5 level during the first nine days was 24 per cent lower than the average of the previous fortnight,” CSE said.
“Further investigations and analysis of NASA satellite pictures has exposed massive crop fires in Punjab and Haryana that started around April 19 -- which could be the reason behind the rise in pollution levels,” read the report.
“PM2.5 and NO2 suddenly spiked post-April 23 and continued till April 30. There is a distinct and sudden spike of pollution after April 23 when PM2.5 increased by as much as 92 per cent and NO2 by 47 per cent,” the report stated.
In fact, air quality index reported for the key north Indian cities -- including Delhi, Faridabad, Agra and lucknow -- shows an overall increase in PM2.5 after April 26. Within a day, the Air Quality Index (AQI) worsened by 22 to 20 per cent by April 26. The AQI of Delhi worsened by 16 per cent, it added.
The report says what is damaging is that in the absence of clear explanation of the reasons for the pollution spike towards the end of the scheme, it has led to “the misleading conclusion that odd-even rule has not made any impact”.
“Poor air quality analysis can lead to irresponsible interpretation by industry. This lack of clarity has made it a convenient narrative for the auto industry to claim in the Supreme Court that vehicles do not contribute to pollution,” CSE said.