How Delhi's Air Pollution Problem can be Solved Using Simple Measures

This blog will be little unusual from my other blogs as in this I will be covering a topic different than what I usually do. I will be writing about the Delhi's Air Pollution Problem. Everyone in India tends to blame each other for the problems we face, but as a community we lack the sense of collective decision making. In this blog what I am trying is to identify the trigger points which contribute to the Air Pollution of Delhi and why it gets worse in Winter. 

Collective Decision Making

Collective Decision making is something which has been long dead in India. What do I mean by saying it? I mean, it is a decision taken collectively to solve a problem once and for all. Harappa Civilization was a place which was known to solve urban problems by collective decision making. I remember King Bhoj of Bhopal (the city is named after the king) constructed the Bhopal lake which solved water crisis of the city once and for all. Places such as Udaipur, Jaisalmer, and Jaipur also have lakes which solved the city's water problem. Similarly Saurashtra region of Gujrat is known for its drought but the biggest lake was constructed by Chandragupta Maurya which solved the water crisis up to such extent. This is the power of Collective Decision making, however down the line India forgot this art. I will write a separate blog on this topic, now the topic on hand is Delhi's pollution.

Let us analyze the air pollution first

(Data is from open source as I just want to convey a point and not scientifically prove anything)

Trigger 1

If we see the above data, we see that in the Months of July to September we have the best Air Quality in Delhi. October is when the AQI of Delhi starts getting worse. This corresponds to the stubble burning in the North West region of Delhi, in states like Punjab and Haryana. This also corresponds with the Easterly Trade Winds which start from October which carries with it the pollution of stubble burning. Now since Northern India is guarded by the Himalayas, it creates a Coriolis's effect and Air moves along the Gangetic-Yamuna plains of Northern India. Let us call this effect Trigger 1.

Trigger 2 

Vehicular Pollution and Industrial pollution is also a major cause of pollution in Delhi, but they are also not an absolute cause of pollution. 

The following data shows a slight dip in AQI in the year 2020. Now in 2020 vehicle movement and major industrial activities were shut due to Covid lockdowns and still AQI sees only a slight improvement, this shows that there are other factors which cause pollution even when Delhi was shut down. However it is very helpful, if we can control this trigger as well.

Trigger 3

Dust pollution is the biggest contributor to the Air Pollution in Delhi. We can clearly see in this data the majority of the pollution chunk comes from dust. This can be stopped if there were proper guidelines for Construction activities and steps are taken to tackle the roadside pollution by using vacuum cleaners etc. Also dust accumulation in roads can be cleared by planting shrubs along the roads.

Trigger 4

This is one of the biggest sources of pollution and this is caused by incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion leads to release of various gases which are harmful for the air. 

One of the biggest reasons for Trigger 4 is garbage burning but they are not a lone culprit alone. 

If we go to Delhi, in every nook and corner we find people burning such fires to keep themselves warm. They are mostly blue collar workers who cannot afford the luxury to sit at home. To keep themselves warm they use whatever cheap combustible material they can find to burn. This also contributes majorly to the pollution problem of Delhi. If we subsidize heaters in such corners of Delhi which doesn't require fossil fuel or logs or cardboards to give warmth then a major chunk of pollution can be cut.

Conclusion and Suggestion

Government has to take solid steps to control the pollution and most probably they might have to pass a legislation dealing with this. If the government somehow control Trigger 3 then more than half of the job is done. Normally in India, the sanitation workers are not well equipped. They still use classical brooms to swat the dust but this doesn't work as the dust gets mixed up in the air. Sanitation workers must be given vacuum cleaners and modern tools to clean the public places. Construction activities also lead to a lot of dust pollution so they should be regulated accordingly and guidelines for that matter should be given. Along with the above steps, government has to subsidize the heating system because if the government doesn't do this then the people will resort to cheap sources of burning fire to keep themselves warm. 

This problem requires Top-Down approach rather than Bottoms-up approach. This is a problem which can easily be solved in an year.