Beyond stubble burning: Why is dealing with other ’consistent’ sources of Delhi air pollution important

Delhi must "work consistently" to deal with year-long sources of air pollution in the national capital, an environment expert said when asked what is the long-run solution to the crisis. He said that while efforts to mitigate the impact of "episodic issues" like stubble burning and use of firecrackers are fine, "we have to consistently work on consistent sources." By “consistent sources”, he meant those sources that cause pollution in Delhi throughout the year.

Delhi's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) at 4 pm on Wednesday, November 8, stood at 426, in the 'severe' category - worsening from 395 on Tuesday. Several cities across the Indo-Gangetic plains reported hazardous air quality. Neighbouring Ghaziabad (384), Gurugram (385), Noida (405), Greater Noida (478) and Faridabad (425) also reported hazardous air quality, news agency PTI reported.

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Contribution of stubble burning

Biomass Burning, which also involves emissions due to stubble burning among other things, was around 40 per cent (38.34 per cent) and responsible for the air pollution in Delhi on Wednesday. A day earlier, on Tuesday, the tally was at 26.45 per cent, as per the Decision Support System for Air Quality Management in Delhi.

Stubble burning or the burning of crop residue is just a part of this biomass burning. "Biomass burning emissions include those from large-scale wildfires, prescribed fires, agricultural fires, charcoal production, and burning of biofuel for domestic heating and cooking purposes," says the University of Manchester's Centre for Atmospheric Science.

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Stubble burning is causing an issue majorly from outside Delhi. Farmers in neighbouring states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were asked by the Supreme Court to stop burning stubble or crop residue as it is one of the major contributors to air pollution.

But this doesn't mean Delhi can now take a sigh of relief. There are many factors within the national capital that are causing serious issues.

How much air pollution is caused in Delhi?

According to the DSS data, the share of biomass burning in Delhi's air pollution is the maximum. However, there are several other factors that contribute to the crisis — and the source of the second highest emission is within Delhi itself. It is Delhi transportation.

On Wednesday, "Delhi Transport" was responsible for 11 per cent of the air pollution in the national capital, according to the DSS data.

Besides, emissions from residential areas, peripheral industries, burning of waste, road dust and construction activities are also a cause of air pollution in Delhi. While they are responsible in marginal and negligible shares, as a whole, they form a bigger part of the air pollution in Delhi — collectively bigger than stubble burning.

Here's a closer look at their contribution as of Wednesday, November 8:

1. Delhi Transport: 11.2 per cent
2. Delhi Energy: 0.5 per cent
3. Delhi Construction: 1.6 per cent
4. Delhi Road dust: 0.8 per cent
5. Delhi Residential: 2.3 per cent
6. Delhi Other sectors: 0.7 per cent
7. Delhi & peripheral Industries: 2.3 per cent
8. Delhi Waste burning: 1 per cent

Other sources include emissions from neighbouring areas of Jhajjar, Faridabad, Sonipat, Panipat and Rewari.

While the Delhi government continues to focus on dealing with "stubble burning" and playing the blame game with neighbouring Haryana over the issue, it fails to address the major sources of pollution within the city, environment experts said.

"Even if stubble burning takes 30 per cent (as recorded on November 7), then the 70 per cent problem we have to control," Vivek Chattopadhyay, the principal programme manager with Centre for Science Environment's Clean Air team told Livemint.

The ‘consistent’ sources of Delhi air pollution'

Transport in Delhi appears as the major contributor to Delhi's air pollution problem when it comes to the national capital's own sources, Vivek Chattopadhyay said, while citing the data released by the Decision Support System. "The Delhi government must also focus on the transport sector, power plants and industries," he added. 

These are the consistent factors that need to be addressed throughout the year so that the pollution level is comparatively lower during episodic moments like Diwali and winter.

Dr Neeraj Kumar Gupta, Pulmonologist, HoD, Safdarjung Hospital also said that the AQI crossing 400 and going to the severe category is mainly due to factors like combustion... due to transportation, burning of the agricultural waste, and also due to construction-related activities and industrial activities."

The issue with the transport sector

Chattopadhyay said that in traffic, "We have registered more than 1 crore vehicles. So massive traffic is Delhi and contribution of it has to be controlled."

He also emphasised the condition of public transport in Delhi. "The government is not investing in transport and ensuring last-mile connectivity properly. There are no cycling tracks," he said.

"They have only built roads, underpasses and flyovers (which seems to have attracted more cars. Transport studies show that if you increase 10 per cent lane capacity, it will increase 10 per more traffic," he said.

The condition of Delhi's transport sector: What govt has done already

In its Economic Survey Report in 2023, the Delhi government had said that during 2022-23, the transport sector "has been allocated the major share of about 20 per cent of total Budget allocation of Schemes/ Programmes/ Projects..."

1. Bus transport: At the start of 2023, the total number of buses in Delhi, including Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses, went up to nearly 7,400. There were 4010 DTC buses and 3319 buses in operation under the cluster scheme, the Delhi government said in the economic survey report.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier promised that 80 per cent of the total 10,000 buses will be electric by 2025.

Kejriwal had said in August 2022, “We are in the process of acquiring another 1,500 e-buses, we expect them to come by November 2023. So by the end of next year, we will boast a tally of 1,800 e-buses. Post that, the pace of this e-bus revolution will accelerate even further. By 2025 end, we will add 6,380 more e-buses to our fleet.”

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2. Total motor vehicles in Delhi: The Economic Survey report tabled by the Delhi government in March 2023 showed 35 per cent yearly decline in the total number of vehicles on the roads of the national capital since the city government banned the plying of overage vehicles.

According to the report, the total number of motor vehicles on Delhi roads in 2021-22 was 79.18 lakh, showing a 35.38 per cent decrease since the Delhi government banned diesel vehicles aged over 10 years and petrol vehicles which are more than 15 years old.

3. Delhi metro: The Supreme Court recently observed that the air pollution in Delhi NCR would have been worse had the metro railway system not been in place. As the air quality in Delhi NCR worsened, the Delhi government asked the metro and DTC to add their services.

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What's the solution? What else Delhi govt can do?

The Delhi government had already implemented an action plan to deal with air pollution. These include sweeping of roads, daily water sprinkling, a ban on construction and demolition activities and restrictions on the entry of vehicles in Delhi among several other measures.

However, experts said the government should invest more in the transport sector - enhance public transport and make them world-class so that even the rich don't hesitate to use them.

Moreover, a comprehensive mobility plan study must be conducted in Delhi NCR to understand the sources of air pollution, the expert said.

Besides, the government should take people's complaints seriously. Chattopadhyay said that even when people report problems, he government doesn't take action...there was a study which said that 75 per cent of complaints were not resolved."

"They have to be proactive...," he added.