A week since Delhi saw its air quality plunge, debates rage over whether or not the odd-even car rationing system, proposed to be implemented by the Delhi government from November 13, will help Delhiites breath better.
As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Delhi air quality continues to be in the 'severe' category on Wednesday morning. The Air Quality Index (AQI) at Anant Vihar was 452, while it was 433, 460, 382 and 413 at RK Puram, Punjabi Bagh, Sri Aurobindo Marg and Shadipur, respectively.
The air quality dropping to "severe" (AQI above 400) levels has prompted the government to implement the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The restrictions under stage IV of GRAP, including a ban on all kinds of construction work and the entry of polluting trucks into the capital, took effect on Sunday.
The emergency meeting held by the government on Monday also proposed the implementation of the odd-even car rationing system from November 13. The move, however, has triggered a political row, with the opposition Congress and some experts calling it an ineffective plan that only causes inconvenience to people.
"The odd-even scheme of the state government had been established as a wrong step, which did not reduce pollution, but only created inconvenience to the people. The Delhi Congress wants to give a constructive suggestion and the Lieutenant Governor should call an all-party meeting to find a lasting solution to the dangerous air pollution," Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said in a statement.
The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and Evidence for Policy Design had analysed the impact of the odd-even system in 2016 and found that Delhi saw a 14-16 per cent reduction in PM2.5 levels during the hours it remained in force in January that year. However, there was no reduction in pollution when the scheme was brought back in April that year.
According to experts, the system is not a long-term solution and would only be a marginal help. "It is not even a band-aid," Dr Sagnik Dey, professor and coordinator of the Centre of Excellence for Research in Clean Air at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi told The Indian Express.
She added that the odd-even doesn’t really cut the number of vehicles plying on the roads by 50%. "More importantly, the reduction in emissions doesn’t always mean a reduction in the pollutant concentration in the air, as that depends on meteorological factors like wind speed. The evidence so far shows an uneven impact — while some areas have seen reductions, others have not, or the reduction has been only for a few hours," she told the news outlet.
The Supreme Court too too had questioned the Delhi government on whether the scheme would help. A top court bench comprising Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said, "Odd-even has been implemented in Delhi, but has it ever succeeded? It's all optics."
AAP-L-G spar
The Delhi government's decision to implement the 'odd-even' car rationing scheme has triggered a political row with Environment Minister Gopal Rai hitting back against the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor's (L-G) office.
A statement made by the L-G's office on Tuesday accused the AAP government of "misleading the courts and people." The Raj Niwas officials said the file on GRAP stage IV implementation sent to the L-G stated that no decision was taken on the 'odd-even' car rationing scheme.
"The much publicised odd-even scheme to fight air pollution post-Diwali, that was announced by the AAP government yesterday is nothing but an attempt to mislead people and courts to divert attention from the ongoing severe crisis in the capital caused by air pollution," a Raj Niwas official said.
"The file to this effect clearly shows that the decision to implement the odd-even scheme as a part of measures under GRAP-IV was not approved by Minister Gopal Rai. Subsequently, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office conveyed his approval to defer a decision on the odd-even plying of vehicles as proposed by Gopal Rai since the CM was out of town," the official added.
"Gopal Rai and the chief minister approved all proposals except that about odd-even plying of vehicles, where they wanted a decision on the implementation to be taken after advice from experts. The file was subsequently sent to the LG Secretariat for the LG's approval. The LG Secretariat has flagged this deliberate misrepresentation in its nothings to the Chief Minister's Office," he added.
The LG Secretariat added that the file was sent to them on November 4 but the government had already started giving public announcements regarding the order for implementation of actions under Stage IV of GRAP in the media by then. "In light of this announcements to this effect in the media amounts to misleading the people as also the honourable courts, who are closely monitoring the situation arising out of severe air pollution in the city," he said.
However, Rai said the decision to implement the 'odd-even' scheme was taken on November 6 but the file the official was talking about was actually sent for LG VK Saxena's approval on November 4. Rai also alleged that Raj Niwas officers were "misleading" Saxena, and added that the file on the 'odd-even' scheme will be sent to the LG by the transport department.
"The file, on the basis of which he is citing that the 'odd-even' proposal has come from the government, is dated November 4. On the basis of this, on the evening of November 5, the CAQM decided to implement GRAP IV. The next day, on November 6, CM Arvind Kejriwal called a meeting at the Delhi Secretariat regarding air pollution. In that meeting, it was decided that 'odd-even' would be implemented in Delhi."
"The decision to implement 'odd-even' was taken on 6th November. In such a situation, how can the 'odd-even' be written in the file of November 4? Now the process of sending its file is going on. 'Odd-even' is implemented under the Motor Vehicles Act. The transport department is working on this," he added.
To the Supreme Court's observation, the minister said the scheme was not on hold. "It will start on November 13 as announced since there is no bar from the SC in today's order," it said.