The Delhi government has escaped the wrath of the Supreme Court so far as the premier judicial establishment has come down heavily on the central government for not taking enough measures to curb the pathetic air quality of the capital city. There have been numerous directives being issued by the Supreme Court of India to incite the central government to do something about the situation at hand.

The air quality and the level of pollution in the NCR region has always been a concern. The air quality according to the WHO is the worst in the world with Delhi beating out 1650 other cities to claim this dubious distinction. Air pollution-related diseases including chronic respiratory disorders and asthma are the fifth largest killer in India.

The quality of air usually tends to fluctuate in the city with it rarely reaching the “good” level. The main causes for this unacceptable level of pollution in the air including the perineal smog that seems to have engulfed the NCR region can be attributed to several factors. The main reason for the pollution is vehicular emissions which account for 41% of the source of air pollution in the state. This is compounded by the higher household income due to the growth of the IT sector. This ensures that almost every household has a car that is being used regularly to make trips across the Noida, Gurgaon belt where all the IT companies are.

Another main reason for the quality of air is the presence of coal-powered industries in the area. Moving these industries to the outskirts of the city might be an impossible task despite being responsible for almost 18% of the emissions. These industries and factories have been around for years and shutting them down or forcefully moving them can lead to huge losses both financially and economically. Not to mention the number of jobs that will be lost in the process.

Apart from these two causes, the usual culprits that are responsible for the low air quality at this time of the year are the Diwali celebrations across the state that contribute in a huge way to worsened air quality and the seasonal burning of crops by all the farmers in the region.

Unfortunately, the governments are not in a position to take action or prevent either of these activities as they are very closely tied to the religious beliefs and livelihood of various sections of society. The irony is that even in matters where the government could have helped, they are rendered powerless due to multiple sensitivities that need to be considered.

The Supreme Court of India has regularly made statements and issued directives to the central government to do something about the situation including asking them to announce work from home for all employees to counter the air pollution. The Arvind Kejriwal led AAP government has directed schools and government offices to shut down to prevent adding to the already bad situation.

While the central government has largely avoided the issue and not taken any concrete steps to either follow the Supreme Courts directives or implement any new policies, we have been active on the international scene advocating a carbon neutral/negative approach. In the recently concluded COP26 or United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, India chose to water down its statement to “phase down” usage of coal against the otherwise accepted “phase out” coal.

This move raised a lot of eyebrows as India has been an advocate of climate change, green energy and carbon emission control in various other forums. The fact that China, which is one of the worst offenders internationally in terms of carbon emissions and air pollution, came out in support of India, did not help our image at all.

Despite all these various permutations and combinations, the Kejriwal led government has decided to step up and do something about the situation.

Our source within the AAP core...