Delhi Smog: Solution Lies in Whole of Govt & Society Approaches

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Delhi Alone Cannot Deal with Pollution Challenges

By Dhanasree Jayaram

Bengaluru, December 11: The transboundary pollution and specifically Delhi NCR pollution levels have been extremely poor for the past decade or so. This is an annual phenomenon in the winter. This is a governance issue, something that needs to be tackled across the board between states within India.

We are seeing the impacts of pollution crossing borders and therefore some of our neighbouring states have also pointed at the problems of pollution that are also affecting their population.

This as a transboundary issue right now while also sweeping through the Indo Gangetic plains. There are meteorological factors that have contributed to the pollution.

This includes temperature, wind and the La Nina Phase. The pollution levels are expected to be much worse because we are expecting harsher winters as well.

Especially with the cold season, more pollution that gets trapped closer to the ground, unlike in the summers which dissipate the pollutants and push slightly above.

So, all these different factors affect the Indo-Gangetic plains as a whole. The issue cannot be dealt with only at the level of Delhi.

This needs to be something that is dealt by all the states, including Punjab, Haryana, and, of course, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and many others which are also facing similar levels of pollution.

Within Delhi, vehicular pollution is also an issue besides construction. That is why every year we see that around this time the government also says that we don’t need any construction happening during this period to reduce the levels of pollution.

But that itself may not be the long-term solution. Just spraying water or installing these machines that can trap the pollution or absorb the pollution may not give long-term solutions.

With many changes within policy and governance, an overhaul in ways development issues are tackled within the region need to be looked into. Industrial pollution is an issue as well.

We have seen increased levels of pollution that has affected health, which particularly is a big factor that cannot be discounted anymore.

Effects of the pollution on health and particularly respiratory illnesses have gone up. The number of deaths related to this respiratory cardiovascular kind of illnesses is also going up in this region.

Also, the magnitude of the challenges makes it evident that one government or two governments cannot really tackle the issue. It requires a whole of government, and whole of society approach to build a more sustainable society and reduce the pollution levels in Delhi and also across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

(Author is an Assistant Professor with Manipal Academy of Higher Education)

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