Delhi stares at more dusty days as strict curbs set in
- Every winter, Delhi and its neighbourhood are blanketed in toxic smog, worsened by the burning of leftover straw in farms in neighbouring states and the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali.
New Delhi: After imposing the toughest curbs after pollution levels shot through the roof, the national capital is left with few options, as weather predictions pointed to more dusty days ahead.
Authorities shut schools, stopped trucks and suspended construction across the capital as part of an eight-point plan, after much of north India sank into a haze thanks to farm fires, auto exhaust and adverse wind patterns.
On Monday morning, emergency steps to combat air pollution kicked into GRAP-4 which entails the widest set of restrictions. Meanwhile, many companies in and around the capital have asked employees to work from home.
Air quality index (AQI) in Delhi worsened from 441 on Sunday to 494 on Monday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). It has been in the ‘severe’ category (above 400) since last Wednesday.
“We already have flexible working whereby the employee can align with the manager and work from home,” an Ericsson India spokesperson said. The Swedish telecom gear maker added that it was maintaining air quality within its premises.
However, in sectors such as manufacturing, remote work is not practical.
“As chairman, I’m working mostly over the internet and can afford to be away from the city,” said R.C. Bhargava, chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. “If I was MD of Maruti Suzuki, I could not have done that. Our workers, their supervisors, people who are guiding them, training them, have to be there also,” Bhargava said, adding citizens must put pressure on the elected government to adopt the best practices to prevent the causes of pollution.
Sinking air quality has affected solar power generation, experts said, though there are no figures yet to substantiate the fall.
“The efficiency of solar modules would be somewhat impacted in the Delhi-NCR region, due to the thick cover created by the smog, largely in the case of rooftop solar installations, which form a major share of the solar power capacity in the region. While this should not significantly impact the all-India solar power generation, the fog situation worsens and has an impact in Rajasthan, that may impact the all-India solar generation as the state has the largest solar capacity in the country,” said Vikram V., vice-president and co-group head, corporate ratings, Icra.
Every winter, Delhi and its neighbourhood are blanketed in toxic smog, worsened by the burning of leftover straw in farms in neighbouring states and the bursting of firecrackers during Diwali.
Meanwhile, Union health secretary Punya Salia Srivastava said that air pollution has emerged as a significant health challenge in recent years. She also pointed to the need for district and city-level action plans at the states, as well as expanding the network of sentinel hospitals for monitoring air pollution-related illnesses.
According to Sagnik Dey, chair professor at the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences in IIT Delhi, a lot of factors need to work to produce good rain. Besides, it costs around ₹10-12 crore each day, and it has to be done regularly.
After the Supreme Court lambasted the Commission for Air Quality Management (for delaying the rollout of GRAP III and IV in the capital, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai turned the blame on the Union government. “After a rise in the pollution level in Delhi, we had called a meeting of senior officers of the departments concerned at noon for implementation of GRAP-IV. But there is such negligence that despite pollution rising to dangerous levels, no senior officer arrived for the meeting. So, we had to cancel it,” Rai added.
“Our current environmental laws are not inadequate since they provide for injunctive reliefs, compensation and rehabilitation of the environment after removing the polluting factor," said Jasmine Damkewala, senior partner at Circle of Counsels and Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court of India.
"The laws also follow the principle of the polluter pays. State authorities are also mandated certain do’s and don’ts, but the implementation of the same is poor. The judicial mechanism is also sound and robust with wide-ranging powers but the sheer bulk of the matters makes it difficult to achieve speedy results despite it being a specialized Tribunal. Diligent and active as the NGT is, it is still failing to meet the aspirations of the people in so far as sustainable change is concerned. It is believed that an increase in the strength of the NGT by multiple Benches would help the Tribunal be more responsive and effective.”
Rituraj Baruah, Gulveen Aulakh, Krishna Yadav , Priyanka Sharma, and Alisha Sachdev contributed to this story.
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First Published:18 Nov 2024, 08:14 PM IST
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