Delhi govt defers odd-even and taxi ban plan
Experts have questioned the scheme's efficacy, while opposition politicians criticised the government's lack of vision and planning to tackle pollution.
The Delhi government on Friday postponed the implementation of the odd-even traffic control scheme — soon after the Supreme Court took a stern view of the administration’s efforts to combat pollution, saying the government was free to do what it had to do even if the effects of the scheme were minimal.
Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai said the decision was due to a drastic improvement in air quality following a sudden spell of rain and thundershowers.
“An improvement has been witnessed in the air quality of Delhi. The pollution levels had reached severe plus and AQI was over 450, which has now improved to around 300. The government has decided to postpone the decision to implement odd-even in November 13-20 period,” Rai said at a press conference at the Delhi secretariat.
The odd-even policy to regulate car use (vehicles with odd numbers are allowed only on odd days and those with even ones on even number days) was due to be enforced on Monday, but the announcement was earlier this week described by the court as an attempt at “optics”, while experts questioned its efficacy by pointing out that the impact was minimal at best, and not worth the inconvenience it caused.
In court on Friday, the bench hearing the matter cautioned the government against any attempt to shift its burden of “non-performance” on to the court. “You (Delhi) said, we shall await the Supreme Court order before implementing odd-even. What is the Supreme Court order got to do with this?” said the bench headed by justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. “You have to take a call or else you will say pollution is due to the Supreme Court order,” it added.
The air quality bulletin for Friday, which captures the 24-hour average air quality index at 4pm, showed pollution levels improve dramatically to 279 (in the “poor” category) from 437 (“severe”) a day before due to welcome overnight rain and windy conditions that were not accurately predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The Met has now forecast windy conditions for Saturday, which will likely help reduce pollution further.
Rai clarified that there were no plans to ban the entry of taxis registered outside Delhi and more steps will be taken only after Supreme Court’s orders.
The minister also appealed to people to celebrate Diwali without firecrackers and choose lamps over firecrackers so that they can help maintain air quality in the Capital.
In court, the Delhi government backed the odd-even plan, asserting in an affidavit that “the policy works as an effective emergency measure”, and shared two independent impact evaluations conducted during the first two implementations of the scheme — during January 1-15, 2016, and April 15-30, 2016.
The court on Tuesday flagged concerns over the plan that were expressed by amicus curiae and senior advocate Aparajita Singh, who called the scheme unscientific.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, who appeared for the Delhi government, told the court on Friday that under the graded response action plan (Grap), orange-coded private cars that run on diesel were roughly 271,000 in number, of which most were already ordered to remain off roads under Grap Stage-III since they run on BS-IV fuel. Banning all orange-tagged, diesel-run vehicles, a move suggested by the amicus, will only take an additional 43,717 diesel cars running on BS-VI fuel off the road, while allowing the balance of 180,000 vehicles on petrol and CNG to run. The odd-even scheme, on the other hand, would have ensured at least half of the registered 2 million vehicles in Delhi remain off the road, the senior advocate said.
To be sure, that number seems to imply there would be no exemptions from the odd-even restrictions, which was not the case in the past iterations when exceptions, such as those for two-wheelers, emergency vehicles, single women or women drivers picking up children from school, were given.
“It is you who has to take a call. We only flagged what the amicus said whether it will make any impact. What you have to do you do. If it has minimal impact, you do it. Otherwise, you will say [you didn’t do it] because we said, [and] pollution is due to Supreme Court’s order,” the bench said.
The court seized upon the figures on efficacy shared by the Delhi government, which said there was a 13% reduction. It pointed out that vehicular pollution contributed 17% of Delhi’s total emissions, and asked if the odd-even plan would reduce 13% of only that amount.
The bench also reviewed reports on the efficacy of the smog tower at Connaught Place, which found that the 24m-high installation led to a 30-34% drop in pollution at 100m distance, and that improvement reduced to 16% further away.
“Every year, the same problem arises. For six years you have been trying to resolve this problem but have been unsuccessful,” the bench noted.
Leader of opposition in Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the top court’s comments on the issue of pollution makes it clear that the government lacks both vision and a plan to tackle the problem. “The Kejriwal government has taken no steps to control pollution, and the steps which were taken lacked proper planning. Under the Grap, a ban was imposed on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles in Delhi, but there was no alternative arrangement for those who owned these vehicles. Due to the government’s ban, nearly 300,000 vehicles were pushed off the roads, but the government did not provide any alternative arrangements for them,” Bidhuri said.
On Thursday, the national capital recorded the longest streak of near severe days with the AQI clocking in over 390 for eight straight days. While the Capital has high baseline pollution, made worse by congestion due to festive season commute, a large part of the problem is smoke due to farm fires, especially in Punjab, which accounts for over 90% of such incidents.