How the AAP govt plans to tackle the now-annual air pollution crisis in Delhi

Ahead of the winter season, the air quality in Delhi is already in decline. The air quality index (AQI) in Anand Vihar on September 20 was 418, just a few days after the national capital recorded its only ‘good’ quality AQI of the entire year. At the time of writing, the AQI stood at 181 in Shahdara.

While the winter smog has become an annual, ignominious staple of the capital of the world’s fifth largest economy, the Aam Aadmi Party government has promised to tackle the crisis. In the previous years, the Arvind Kejriwal-led government accused the neighbouring state governments of failing to curb the practice of stubble burning by farmers. The Delhi government has said that stubble burning contributes significantly to the poor air quality in Delhi.

But with AAP’s Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann leading the government in Punjab after a historic mandate, the Delhi government is planning to tackle the issue jointly as part of the AAP’s 15-point action plan to tackle the crisis.

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The Delhi government will continue to promote the use of bio-decomposers for use on paddy stubble. Developed by scientists at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), the bio-decomposer was used across farms in Delhi in 2020. This year, the Delhi and Punjab state governments are planning to introduce a pilot project to spray the decomposer on 5,000 acres of farmland in Punjab.

“Joint meeting with Punjab Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal ji and officials of IARI Pusa regarding stubble pollution. Free spraying of bio-decomposer will be done in some areas of Punjab as a pilot project this year under the supervision of IARI,” Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai tweeted.

But with 2.814 million hectares under paddy farmland in the state of rivers, the pilot project is a drop in the ocean for removing paddy using alternative means.

The Delhi government has also announced that it will be implementing a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, and use of all types of firecrackers until January 1. But the execution remains an issue as seen in 2021 when Diwali saw the worst air quality levels since 2016.

Other plans include a halt on construction activity when pollution levels worsen considerably and rolling out the odd-even scheme for traffic. But while the Delhi government claims to have improved the number of ‘good’ and satisfactory’ air quality level days through its efforts, other systemic issues about the pollution like traffic congestion and volumes, unregulated construction, and non-green power generation remain unresolved.