Kejriwal’s gripe with Punjab

THE air quality in Delhi and the NCR is on the descent again this year, in spite of a bunch of measures ahead of Diwali, when pollution will have hit saturation point. Last year, the air quality index of the Capital fell in the ‘very poor’ category. The latest data by the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research reveals the levels this year are no better. While stubble burning is, undoubtedly, one of the several factors — affecting a marginal 9 per cent of PM2.5 pollution — it is unlikely to impact the air quality significantly due to the low wind magnitude. The reasons are localised, meteorological as well as regional. And so, when Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal blames Punjab squarely for Delhi’s poor air, he is shooting in the dark, more so since the state is not contiguous to the Capital. Haryana’s contribution, meanwhile, is dismissed as ‘limited’.

Air pollution in India kills over a million people annually. In Delhi, it damages the lungs of over 2 million children. When it is recognised  that pollution peaks at this time, collaborative efforts are required, in time, to prevent it from happening. Instead, alarm bells go off when things come to a head, and frenetic orders are bellowed: all construction activities, including civil, are put on hold; stone crushers and dust-generating plants are shut; the transport department and traffic police machinery comes together; MC resumes night patrol to thwart burning of garbage; dust-sweeping machines start moving; vehicles are deployed to sprinkle water on roads. This is not all. A challan drive ensues. Mr Kejriwal needs to first show diligence in fixing the local components. 

Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan’s call for an ‘aggressive’ plan to combat pollution was met with a placid indifference — none of the environment ministers of the four states around Delhi attended the critical meeting. Officials filled in for the ministers, reflecting their flippant approach to the matter. The Environment Protection Control Authority, set up by the Supreme Court, is also consulting state governments. Unless all come together to make it a concerted through-the-year political priority, the measures will be sterile, rendering the least relief.