Nudged by SC, Delhi govt plans steps to maximise use of public buses, Metro

The state transport department wrote to the Delhi Transport Corporation, Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to utilise their bus and Metro fleet to full capacity to reduce private vehicles on city roads

After the Supreme Court pulled up the Delhi government for making ‘lame excuses’ and passing the buck instead of taking emergent measures to control air pollution, the state government on Monday prepared a fresh proposal for the state disaster management authority to relax the Covid-19 norms and allow standing passengers in buses and the Delhi Metro, senior officials privy to the development said.

The Delhi Metro is also working on increasing their trains, said Delhi transport commissioner Ashish Kundra. (AP)

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and state government to focus on city related issues such as dust, industry and vehicular emissions.

The state transport department also wrote to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to utilise their bus and Metro fleet to full capacity to reduce private vehicles on city roads.

According to the affidavit submitted by the Centre before the SC on Monday, 28% of the city’s PM 2.5 levels during winters is contributed by the transport sector in Delhi. The same for PM 10 is around 24% during the winter months. Delhi has more than 10 million registered vehicles and lakhs of hundreds of thousands more enter or cross the national Capital every day.

On Monday, hours after the apex court reproached the Delhi government for mostly blaming stubble burning for the city’s hazardous air quality, environment minister Gopal Rai convened a meeting of all transport agencies to explore ways to increase the availability of public transport in the city. Besides, the additional chief secretary (environment) also held an inter-departmental meeting to discuss actions taken by all concerned Delhi government agencies and seek suggestions from them.

“Timing is an important factor when looking at the contribution of stubble burning to Delhi’s air pollution. We do not know which period the data on stubble burning was considered by the Centre in its report that it submitted to the SC today (Monday). In October, the contribution of stubble burning was low because it rained. Central government’s own agency Safar has said in the past few days that the contribution of stubble burning to the city’s poor air quality was as high as 48% at one point. We do not know on what basis the Centre is quoting its numbers,” Rai said.

The Delhi environment minister insisted that a joint action plan involving all the neighbouring states and the Centre was required to fight pollution in the city. “In Delhi, all our commercial vehicles run on CNG and we have one of the highest number of electric vehicles among Indian cities. But then, lakhs of diesel vehicles enter Delhi every day which also spikes pollution in the city. That is why a joint action plan is required. We are ready to cooperate with every stakeholder,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and state government to focus on city related issues such as dust, industry and vehicular emissions. When the Delhi government’s counsel Rahul Mehra said road sweeping was handled by the municipal corporations, the top court shot back, “You’ are passing the buck to MCD again. This kind of lame excuse will compel us to find out and hold an audit inquiry into the total revenue you are collecting and spending on popularity slogans instead of looking after people.”

Delhi transport commissioner Ashish Kundra said he has written to the DMRC, the DTC and the DIMTS to utilise their bus and Metro fleet to their full capacity. “All buses will be run every day and no buses will be kept on reserve until at least Wednesday (November 17). The Delhi Metro is also working on increasing their trains,” he said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board data, Delhi has seen one of the second most polluted ten days after Diwali since 2015, when AQI record keeping began. The data shows that the city saw seven severe days (of the total 11) this year, compared to the worst so far in 2016 when the capital witnessed the air quality in the severe zone for 10 days.

A senior government official said the Delhi government is also sending a fresh proposal to the DDMA to allow standing passengers in the metro and the state-run buses. Almost 50% of the ridership in both these modes of public transport is being killed at present due to the DDMA’s existing Covid-19 norm which states that the Metro and buses are allowed to operate only with 100% of their seating capacity.

When allowed to operate to its full capacity, including standing passengers, the DTC and cluster buses together carry about 4.2 million people every day, while the Delhi metro carries about 2.3 million passengers. Delhi currently has a bus fleet of a total of over 6,700 DTC and cluster buses.

Kundra said the government will also intensify its crackdown against end of life vehicles by roping in the municipal corporations and the police. Registered diesel vehicles more than 10 years old, and any vehicle over 15 years old, cannot operate in NCR.