The National Green Tribunal, by imposing a ban on 10-year old diesel vehicles, has taken an extreme measure. The problem is that the measure smacks of a Tughlaqi firman. The management of vehicular pollution ought to start by vehicular control
India is fighting to curb the pollution problem, and the national capital has become a poster child due to its poor air quality. This statement is based on facts that emerge through the air pollution data. In the past, through legislations and court interventions, many attempts have been made to improve the air quality. This forced the city’s public transport fleet to convert to compressed natural gas, a decision that was taken almost 15 years ago.
But, as New Delhi adds thousands of vehicles to its roads everyday — tens of thousands, when you consider vehicles entering Delhi from the neighbouring States — pollution levels were off the charts. The air in Delhi was not just hazardous but also fatal. It appeared as if Delhi’s air quality would soon match the quality of the water in the Yamuna, which resembles a black sludge winding its way through the eastern part of the city.
Just like the water in Yamuna has laid waste to the river’s fish, the air quality too has taken a heavy toll on the avian population. The State bird of Delhi, the house sparrow, was once found in hundreds and thousands. But it has now almost vanished from the skies. Its tiny lungs were seemingly incapable to handle the city’s pollution.
It is not surprising that a recent report in The Indian Express, pointed out that doctors have advised the parents of children having lung problems to move out of the city. A couple of European Union countries have privately admitted that they have cut the tenure of diplomats in Delhi from three years to two years due to the degrading air quality.
Pretending that poor air quality is not an urgent problem, will not give any solution. The fact that the National Green Tribunal has stepped in to tackle the issue is not surprising either. With New Delhi in paralysis for much of 2014, the problem became worse all the more. Now, the two Governments — at the Centre and the State — with a clear mandate, should work with the NGT to improve the air quality.
Unfortunately, the NGT has decided to take extreme measures to redress the situation. The problem however, is that the measure, smacks of a Tughlaqi firman. Named after Muhammad bin Tughlaq, a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, this alludes to the ill-conceived move of the Sultan to move the capital from Delhi to Daulatabad. This move devastated the population and eventually laid waste to two cities, and had to be scrapped at the very end after pretty much bankrupting the empire.
By banning diesel vehicles over 10 years old, the NGT has issued the equivalent of a Tughlaqi order. Yes, vehicular pollution is a key cause of air pollution in the city and controlling vehicular traffic is a sure fire way of clearing the skies. But it is not the only way.
However, the management of vehicular pollution ought to start by vehicular control. One method to do this is through congestion charging, as it is done in london, where all vehicles with the exception of electric and hybrid vehicles that enter a city, have to pay a congestion charge.
Another option to control pollution is the Beijing way where cars having number plates ending with a particular digit are banned from operating on certain days. Both these solutions have worked in the cities to reduce congestion and thus pollution.
However, for formulation, there should be a certain structure. First, the roads should bypass the a central place in the city. Second, there should be a well-integrated public transport solution. Delhi has taken massive strides in the latter, but the fact remains that until the third phase of the Delhi Metro is completed, public transport will remain inadequate. Coupled with public transport, there is a need for an affordable parking system, so that issues with last mile connectivity can be addressed.
The NGT’s order has the perverse effect of becoming a treatment that can kill — in this case, by the potential of economic paralysis — the patient. The fact is that this order can take hundreds of commercial vehicles off the road, actually making public transportation and transportation for school children worse (and more dangerous). It would drastically impact emergency services, such as ambulances and fire tenders.
In many countries around the world, vehicles are tested annually and awarded a ‘fitness’ certificate. These tests include ensuring that the automobile is fit for the road, that it meets all emission norms, and also has functional headlights and tail lights, and is safe for its occupants and other road users.
If a car, bike or commercial vehicle of any sort is not fit for the road, it is not allowed on the road. Period. In the the United States, for example, if a vehicle does not have functional brake lights or indicators, it is fined and potentially impounded. If such a rule is put in place in Delhi, every second auto rickshaw would be off the road. A well-maintained 15-year old motorcycle or car can potentially be far less polluting (within the parameters established for every vehicle class) than a poorly maintained five-year old bus.
Also, in Europe, car taxes are established not on the engine size but over the levels of pollution that a car emits. Highly fuel-efficient small engines do not necessarily mean the engine does not emit a high level of polluting nitrous oxide. And big, high-power engines are not necessarily high polluters. Something similar ought to be considered in India. This will not be hard to implement as most Indian car and bike manufacturers export their wares to such regulated markets.
Of course, in India, NGT or no NGT, the biggest contributor to pollution and overloaded vehicles running on the roads is the corruption of the enforcement agencies. Overloaded commercial three-wheelers, for example, struggle up the flyovers and block roads while their engines run at a high revolution, using up more fuel and thickly polluting the air.
The same is true of large trucks too. Successive Governments in the States and at the Centre have threatened to act against such overloading, but their efforts have failed due to the influence of those who make money from the overloading.
The NGT ought to look at other innovative solutions to control vehicular pollution in the capital. There is little doubt that something needs to be done to improve Delhi’s air. But at what costIJ