Not just diesel cars, there are other causes as well

Ban on old vehicles won't be enough to tackle air pollution in city, say environmentalists

Imposing a blanket ban on old diesel vehicles won’t be enough to tackle air pollution in the national capital, say environmentalists. The administration should come up with a strategy to enforce the National Green Tribunal’s order on old, polluting vehicles as well as the other, earlier directions on garbage burning and construction dust clouds.

“Mere notification of the NGT-suggested bans won’t serve the purpose. There has to be a proper strategy in place to enforce these restrictions,” says Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Though emissions by vehicles are generally seen as the biggest factor deteriorating the air quality in Delhi, other elements that make it more deadly include burning of garbage and leaves, apart from construction and demolition waste and dust clouds. Delhi produces over 8,000 metric tonnes of solid waste every day.

While most people don’t separate their wet waste or kitchen waste from the dry waste like polythene packets and wrappers, the municipal corporations have been slack in coming up with a mechanism to lift wet and dry waste separately from community bins (dhalaos).

Non-segregation of waste is the major culprit for excessive generation of methane gas at landfills, often resulting in accidental fires that throw up massive clouds of toxic gases, says Chitra Mukherjee Manager (Advocacy and Outreach) with NGO Chintan. “Lack of segregation also adds to the polluting fumes from waste-to-energy units in the city,” she says.

Environmentalists say that stringent measure should be taken to ensure guidelines for preventing air pollution from sources other than vehicular emission.

Illegal burning of garbage at the colony-level adds to toxins in the air, admit civic officials, while expressing limitations in keeping a watch on every nook and corner of the city.

“The civic agencies must carry out inspections to check the burning of garbage. Good construction practices like covering the site so that the dust does not fly around must be followed by the builders,” adds Roychowdhury, who heads campaigns for clean air and public health.

“Debris-related dust clouds are one of the main sources of air pollution so it should be kept under check while transporting the rubble from construction sites and appropriate demolition techniques must be used by the civic agencies to bring down the level of air pollution,” she adds.

There is a dire need of space for waste segregation, composting and storage at colony, ward and district level, say activists.

Experts say that despite notification of the environment guidelines laid down by the government in 2010, builders have been flouting them with impunity.

The North Corporation has directed its departments to make sure builders follow these guidelines if they want to get their building plan sanctioned. Even the South Delhi Municipal Corporation has banned burning of green waste and directed its officials to prosecute the defaulters, including its own horticulture and sanitation employees.

Recently, commissioner of South Corporation Puneet Goel issued a notification banning all dry leave, horticulture waste, household waste and garbage. He admitted that air pollution is increasing due to regular illegal burning of waste by citizens.

Earlier this week, Delhi High Court said that trees felled by the Public Works Department and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for their projects have contributed to the rise in the air pollution in the city.

Waste management
The accidental fires at landfills would spew fewer toxins into the air if the civic agencies focus on waste management, say NGOs. “The government is talking about cleaning rivers and water, but waste has a big role to play here too. We cannot clean waters if we let landfills contaminate groundwater and trash is dumped in rivers,” says Mukherjee.

“So we do need solutions like encouraging of segregation and making manufacturers responsible for e-waste, diapers, sanitary napkins, non recyclable packaging which otherwise poison waters and air if set on fire,” she adds.

Environmentalists say that recycling is the way to check air pollution. “We need to develop facilities to collect the waste and then make compost so that waste can be turned into manure,” she adds.

Experts say that 80 per cent of plastic is recycled by the informal sector. The government has set up waste-to-energy plants which require massive subsidies of land that take waste away from recycling. This shows their lack of understanding of recycling and their poor commitment to the issue, they add.

Activists say that Delhi can become a zero waste city but the waste to energy plants in Jasola and Ghazipur are not the right way to deal with the issue.

“Our waste has low calorific value which cannot be used to convert waste-to-energy. We don’t have proper monitoring of the gases which are being released from these plants leading to high pollution in the city. And worse, it affects the recycling process and displaces wastepickers,” Mukherjee adds.

“They help in recycling around 20 per cent of the total waste generated in the city. They should be engaged by the civic bodies to segregate wet waste from dry waste before the corporation vehicles lift garbage from dhalaos for the waste-to-energy units,” she says.

A Chintan study shows Safai Sena – a registered group of waste collectors – reduces greenhouse gases 3.6 times in Delhi alone compared to any other waste project in India receiving carbon credits. “Unfortunately, they are treated like the waste they handle, stigmatised and brutalised by society. Their health suffers and they suffer bites, allergies and humiliation by the municipal authorities,” the NGO says.

Chintan reports say 1.5 lakh such persons recycle at least 2,000 tonnes of paper, plastic, metals and glass daily. “They save the civic agencies up to a crore a day,” Mukherjee says. They help in mitigation of emission of greenhouse gases by 9,62,133 metric tonnes per year, she adds.

There are several rules and policies that recognise the informal sector. These are the National Environment Policy (2006), The National Action Plan for Climate Change (2009), Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011, E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011.

“Including waste pickers in waste management systems in Delhi will let the city comply with established rules and policies,” she adds.

But privatisation of waste management by assigning contracts to waste management companies has taken place in Delhi for the last eight years. “It has neither cleaned the city nor shown a way to include the poor wastepickers. Instead, the data shows it has adversely impacts the informal sector because the latter lose access to their means of livelihood,” she says.