In a striking admission for someone whose livelihood depends on cars, Cars24 CEO Vikram Chopra has urged the government to restrict cars amid Delhi's worsening air crisis.
In an opinion piece for the Indian Express, the Cars24 CEO said, “When someone like me starts arguing for fewer cars on the road, you should understand how desperate things have become.”
“I am not writing this as a CEO. I am writing this as a father and a son. I have a five-year-old who should be playing outdoors but instead asks why the sky looks dirty again. I have 80-year-old parents who hesitate to step outside because the air stings their throats. This is not a theory. This is not politics. This is my family’s lungs on the line. And the truth is painful to say out loud: Delhi is suffocating because it refuses to do anything that makes daily life slightly uncomfortable,” wrote Vikram Chopra.
Delhi AQI
Chopra's request to the government comes amid the hazardous air pollution levels in Delhi. The air quality in the national capital was recorded in the 'very poor' category on Wednesday morning, with an AQI reading of 335.
The outlook for the next five days suggests that the air quality may range from severe to very poor, according to the forecast issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
As per the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 to 100 "satisfactory", 101 to 200 "moderate", 201 to 300 "poor", 301 to 400 "very poor" and 401 to 500 "severe".
Noting that “Delhi wants to breathe clean air without giving up a single convenience”, the Cars24CEO wrote that the “entitlement” that comes from it “is the real pollutant”.
“And this is where I stop being polite. If restricting cars helps, restrict them. If diesel needs to disappear for four months, do it. If odd-even works, bring it back. If construction sites violate norms, shut them down that day, not after a dozen warnings. If any industry is a chronic offender, regulate it like a health emergency instead of negotiating with it like a fragile stakeholder,” the CEO further wrote.
Visuals from Delhi-NCR on Wednesday morning showed scenes that have become typical in winters, with toxic smog shrouding parts of the city.
GRAP III revoked
The Commission for Air Quality Management on Wednesday revoked the restrictions under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR, and called for intensifying measures under GRAP Stage 2.
The CAQM had activated Stage 3 earlier this month citing the worsening pollution trend. Under GRAP-III, all non-essential construction is banned, and restrictions on industries using polluting fuels take effect.
