AIR
POLLUTION - ENVIRONMENT
News: Delhi NCR gasps, use of non-BS VI diesel vehicles, over 3 lakh, banned
What's
in the news?
● With Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) deteriorating on November 3 to 450, which puts it just below the ‘severe plus’ category, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has invoked measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) with immediate effect, prohibiting the use of diesel four-wheelers that are not BS-VI compliant, as well as the entry of trucks into Delhi.
Key
takeaways:
●
The central panel’s order also said that
state governments in the National Capital Region (NCR) can decide whether to
impose further emergency measures such as closing educational institutions and
mandating vehicles with odd and even numbers to ply on alternate days.
●
The state governments and the Union
government will also take a call on whether to allow work from home for
offices.
●
The ban
on diesel four-wheelers, except BS-VI vehicles and those used for essential
and emergency services, will be applicable in Delhi and NCR districts bordering
the capital, according to the order.
●
All Delhi-registered diesel medium and
heavy-goods vehicles are also be prohibited from plying in Delhi, except those
used for essential or emergency services.
●
All industries
in the NCR running on fuels apart from those approved for the NCR are to be
shut, except for dairy units and those manufacturing medical equipment or
drugs.
●
Construction
and demolition activities, including those on linear public
projects like highways, roads, flyovers, pipelines and power lines, which were
previously exempted from the construction ban, are also be banned.
● According to the SAFAR forecasting system, the contribution of stubble burning to the levels of PM2.5 - the fine particulate matter that can be a health concern when levels are high in Delhi hit 34 percent on November 3, the highest so far this season
Air
pollution:
● Air pollution may be defined as the presence of any solid, liquid or gaseous substance including noise and radioactive radiation in the atmosphere in such concentration that may be directly and indirectly injurious to humans or other living organisms, plants, property or interferes with the normal environmental processes.
Causes
of Air Pollution in Delhi:
Natural
factors:
1.
Northwesterly winds:
●
Month of October marks the withdrawal of
monsoon winds (South-West) from North India, leading to the arrival of
North-Easterly winds.
●
Monsoon winds carry moisture and rainfall
all over the country, whereas northwesterly
winds carry dust from dust storms originating in Rajasthan and sometimes
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
●
As per the study conducted by scientists
at the National Physical Laboratory, 72 percent of Delhi’s wind in winters
comes from the northwest, while the remaining 28 percent comes from the
Indo-Gangetic plains.
● One of such examples is a storm of 2017, originated from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that led to a drastic dip in Delhi’s air quality in a couple of days.
2.
Low-level inversion:
●
The temperature dip in the month of
October.
●
Low-temperature
results in low-level inversion i.e. the layer that
stops the upward movement of air from the layers below. It leads to the
concentration of pollutants in the air at the lower heights.
3.
Wind speed:
●
High wind speed in summers facilitates the
faster movement of particulate matters in the air. As the wind speed decreases in winters, the air is not able to draw the
pollutant away from a region.
4.
Landlocked geography of Delhi:
●
Geography of Delhi and the region around
in the northern plains is landlocked. On the one hand source wind from North-West
is already having pollutants, on the other, the Himalayas obstruct the escape
route of air. Moreover, large buildings and other structures in Delhi also
reduce airspeed.
● It is the reason that Chennai with the third-highest number of automobiles in India faces far less pollution in the city in comparison as coastal reason provides air with an effective route to enter and exit.
Anthropogenic
factors:
1.
Industrial chimney wastes:
● There are a number of industries which are source of pollution. The chief gases are SO2 and NO2. There are many food and fertilizers industries which emit acid vapours in air.
2.
Automobiles pollution:
●
The toxic vehicular exhausts are a source
of considerable air pollution. In all the major cities of the country about 800
to 1000 tonnes of pollutants are being emitted into the air daily, of which 50%
come from automobile exhausts.
●
According to the IIT Kanpur study, 20% of PM 2.5 in winters comes from
vehicular pollution.
●
The exhaust produces many air pollutants
including un-burnt hydrocarbons, CO, NOx
and lead oxides.
3.
Dust pollution:
● Dust pollution originating from construction activities, raw road sides, from the neighbouring states, contributes to 56% of PM 10 and the PM2.5 load at 59 t/d, the top contributors being road 38 % of PM 2.5 concentration.
4.
Paddy stubble burning:
● The stubbles left out from the field of paddy during kharif season were burnt out to save time and labour energy for further cultivation makes out the release of pollutants from the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan to settle in the atmosphere of Delhi.
GOVERNMENT
INITIATIVES:
1.
Graded Response Action Plan:
●
The Graded Response Action Plan was made
public by MoEFCC in 2017 in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling in M.C.Mehta v. Union of India (2016)
addressing the quality of the air in Delhi's National Capital Region.
●
According to the degree of pollution, the
GRAP is a set of immediate actions to be performed to minimize air pollution,
including an odd-even car rationing scheme.
2.
Construction & Demolition (C&D) Waste Management Rules:
●
Regulations for the management of
construction and demolition (C&D) waste have been made public by the
government.
●
All producers of C&D waste are
required by law to separate their waste into the following four categories:
concrete, soil, steel and wood, plastics, and bricks and mortar.
●
They must then either deliver their separated waste to processing facilities or to collection
centers set up by the local government.
3.
CPCB Monitoring:
●
In the Delhi-NCR region, the CPCB has sent
out 50 teams to conduct inspections.
●
If any anti-pollution criteria are broken,
inspection teams will visit the construction site and impose fines.
4.
Red Light On, Gaadi Off Campaign:
●
The Delhi Government has started the
"Red Light On, Gaadi Off" campaign to combat air pollution.
●
Volunteers holding placards asking
commuters to turn off their cars engines while the signal is red are part of
this relatively new initiative.
●
This has been one of the city government's
most intriguing air pollution management projects.
●
According to the government, turning off
vehicle engines will save pollution and save each vehicle 7,000 per year.
5.
National Clean Air Program:
●
The National Clean Air Program (NCAP), a
five-year action plan to reduce air pollution, create an India-wide network for
air quality monitoring, and raise public awareness, was introduced by the
government in January 2019.
●
The program focuses on developing city-specific action plans for 102 Indian
cities where air quality standards are exceeded. By 2024, it seeks to cut
PM2.5 levels by 20–30%. (compared to 2017 levels).
●
The NCAP emphasizes the requirement for
strong coordination and cross-sector cooperation among federal agencies, state
governments, and local organizations.
6.
Odd-Even Scheme:
●
According to this initiative, private
vehicles whose registration numbers terminate in an odd digit can drive on
roads on odd dates, whereas those whose registration numbers end in an even
digit can drive on even dates.
●
Vehicles utilizing Delhi roads but with
registration numbers obtained from other states would also be subject to the
laws.
7.
Anti-Smog Guns:
●
An anti-smog gun sprays water into the
atmosphere to rid the air of all dust and other pollutants, thereby reducing
air pollution.
●
The gun is mounted to a water tank that is
part of a mobile unit that can be moved around the city.
8.
Smog Towers:
●
These massive air purifiers, which are
often equipped with numerous layers of air filters, remove pollutants from the
air as it flows through them.
9.
Pusa Decomposer:
●
Scientists at PUSA's Indian Agricultural
Research Institute have come up with a simple, practical, and affordable
solution to the problem of burning straw and stubble.
●
A remedy has been developed for spraying
in fields to control agricultural residue decay. In the end, the residue is
transformed into manure.
10.
Banning Of Diesel Generators:
●
The Environment Pollution Authority has
ordered the governments of Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to outlaw diesel
generators, with the exception of emergency and vital services.
11.
Potential Banning of Construction:
●
Although it hasn't happened yet, the
government has made it clear that it is possible for the national capital's
pollution levels to keep rising.
● It would include shutting down all thermal energy facilities and businesses that use fuels other than PNG.
WAY
FORWARD:
1.
Use of Happy Seeders: Using Happy Seeders allows farmers to
plant wheat seeds while preserving the organic value of the stubble for the
soil, eliminating the need to clean or burn it.
2.
ICMR Tech: The ICMR has created a solution that can be sprayed
on agricultural wastes to transform them into manure. This method needs to be
applied widely over the area.
3.
Commercialization of Paddy Straw: Since wheat straw is
useful and farmers have discovered ways to use it, unlike paddy, the government
should find ways to commercialize paddy straw.
4.
More Smog Towers: To lower the level of smog in the
capital, more smog towers, and anti-smog weapons should be erected.
5.
Implementation of Legislations: Environment-related laws
must be upheld in letter and spirit and put into practice. The implementation
of the numerous environmental legislation that has been drafted has been
exceedingly sluggish.