New Delhi: The report on environment accepts that Delhi’s air pollution problems are not going to be solved unless major policy-level interventions are made. The city has an estimated 60 lakh vehicles plying on its road and even though the road network has increased considerably in the last few years, the road space per vehicle has come down. A study on auto fuel in 2002 showed that Delhi topped the list of eight major Indian cities with maximum vehicular emissions.
Industries are another major source of air pollution in the capital. The city houses various factories for production of food, textiles, chemicals, metals, rubber and plastic. The report suggests the city’s growing population, expected to touch 185 lakh by 2011 and 244 lakh by 2021, is a primary challenge as the government battles to contain the level of pollution.
Diesel consumption, which had come down after the conversion of public transport to CNG, has gone up again due to the sharp rise in number of vehicles. Consequently, levels of oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and respirable particulate matter contributed by roadside dust, auto exhaust and burning of coal, have been much higher than permissible limits. Only sulphur levels have come down, mainly due to less sulphur content in fuel.
More worrying, however, is the presence of other critical pollutants in the atmosphere like carbon monoxide, benxene, toluene and xylene. Benzo (a) pyrene, known to be so carcinogenic that there is no prescribed safe levels for it, has been found in significant quantities in various locations.
With the Commonwealth Games approaching, the government is trying hard to check the level of pollution. It has tied up with the Organizing Committee to set up an ecocode. The measures include issuing permits for registration to only those vehicles that meet the Bharat Stage-IV norms from April 1, 2010. About 5,025 CNG buses would be used during the Games to reduce dependency on private vehicles and light-goods vehicles running on diesel would not be reissued permits unless they convert to CNG.
