NEW DELHI: Dry leaves, which are a precious resource for making compost, are more often being burnt in the city. Smoke from such biomass burning is adding to Delhi's severe smog crisis and very high particulate pollution but agencies seem to be oblivious to this threat. Despite a ban on burning biomass waste, no FIR has been registered against the offence by any civic agency since the ban was imposed in July 1998. Delhi government's departments are busy passing the buck, claiming that none of them has the manpower or competence to crack down on offenders. But with National Green Tribunal ordering action against such burning on Wednesday, the agencies may be roused from their stupor.
Every evening, small bonfires of dry leaves are a common sight in the heart of the city. People are often seen soaking in the warmth, not realizing how this will impact the already poor air quality in the city.
Bhure Lal, head of Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), a body constituted by the union government to monitor environmental issues in Delhi, says burning of dry leaves is very common in Lutyens' Delhi. "It's supposed to be cleanest area of the city but I have seen so many instances here, especially in front of the Iraq embassy. This cannot be resolved until government agencies take action. There are nodal officers from New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) who are to be contacted when there is such burning," he adds.
According to DPCC's legal team, biomass waste burning is banned under the environment protection act and has provisions for up to five years of imprisonment and a Rs 1 lakh fine.
Civic agencies claim they can't do much as they don't have the power to take action on private property. Also, identifying the person responsible for it is difficult, say municipal officials. Though a law is in place, there is confusion over its implementation. The civic agencies claim that action has to be taken by DPCC, but the latter says it doesn't have the manpower to carry out routine checks and that the responsibility has now been given to Delhi Parks and Gardens Society (DPGS).
"We don't have the power to take action against private properties or people. We can only complaint to DPCC. We can take action against our own staff if they are caught burning leaves,'' says Yogender Chandolia, mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation. DPGS, on the other hand, claims that its role is limited to creating awareness and that it doesn't have the manpower to keep a watch on such activities.
NDMC too claims helplessness in taking action. "There is a provision to file an FIR against a person for burning dry leaves as it adds to air pollution. But most of the time, we don't know who the culprit is,'' said an official in NDMC's horticulture department.
NDMC is, however, planning projects for effective utilization of green waste. It has set up four green waste management plants at Lodhi Road, Nehru Park, Talkatora and Sunder Nursery. Each plant can process two tonnes of green waste and convert it into pellets which can be used as bio-fuel. "We are planning to set up 13 more such plants so that we can process the entire waste within our area. At present, the green waste collected from streets and markets is sent to the composting site at Okhla,'' reveals a senior NDMC official.
An emissions inventory prepared by System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), under the ministry of earth sciences, shows burning of biomass within 50km of Delhi increases emissions by at least 15%. In the city's surroundings, even tyres, plastics and tubes are burnt and these release cancer-causing chemicals like dioxin. "Burning dry leaves mainly releases PM10 (coarse pollution particles) and carbon monoxide, but burning tyres releases dioxin, black carbon and PM 2.5 (fine respirable particles)," said Gufran Beig, chief scientist at SAFAR.
