Why Delhi’s air problem goes deeper than Diwali crackers

As usual, nothing really worked. Not the 377 crack teams formed by the Delhi government. Not the campaigns in schools and by resident welfare associations (RWAs). And certainly not the ban imposed by the government in line with a Supreme Court directive.
Firecrackers were back with a bang as the national capital celebrated Diwali. In the process, the air quality took a severe beating, reinforcing Delhi’s status as the world’s most polluted city—a dubious distinction it has held for the past few years now.
Firecracker explosions produced noise pollution and covered the capital in thick smog. On November 1, the morning after Diwali, the Air Quality Index (AQI) jumped to an average 360 for particulate matter 2.5 (PM 2.5), falling into the “very poor” category, based on real-time data from the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). On Diwali morning, the city’s average PM 2.5 level had been 328.
This is despite the pollution-containment measures in place for the past fortnight in the run-up to Diwali. Mid-October onwards, Delhi’s air quality had already started showing signs of trouble. The pollution levels have been high even though temperatures are yet to plummet. Low temperature in winters often keeps air pollution nearer to the ground.
For particulate matter 10 (PM 10)—particles as small as 10 microns in size suspended in air, dust, et al—the normal level should be up to 50. That for PM 2.5 is supposed to be less than 35 over a 24-hour period. An AQI in the range of 300 is plain hazardous.
This early bad air in Delhi raises questions about whether only firecrackers cause pollution around Diwali or there are more reasons. Some RWAs INDIA TODAY spoke to—in Dwarka, Kalkaji, Mayur Vihar and Rajendra Nagar—claimed that the use of firecrackers was visibly less this year than in the past few years.
But the AQI numbers post-Diwali tell a different story. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has mandated Stage II of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), necessitating several urgent steps to reduce pollution. These include deep cleaning and spraying water on busy roads, using dust suppressants every other day in traffic-heady areas, checking building sites and keeping known polluted spots clean. The measures tend to reduce traffic congestion, raise parking fees to discourage private vehicle use and add more public buses and metro rail rides.
These actions are due to forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology that Delhi’s air will likely stay in the “very poor” zone soon because of calm winds and high humidity. To fight back, the government advises using public transport, taking different routes to avoid heavy traffic, changing car filters often and avoiding dust-making activities like building, especially from October to January.
Despite attempts to halt it, smoke from farm stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana drifts into Delhi each year, worsening the situation. CAQM advocates tougher measures in key problem sectors, such as construction, power and vehicle emissions in Delhi-NCR. Diesel generators, commonly used for electricity back-up, are now subject to stringent guidelines to encourage a shift to clean energy if feasible.
Farmers burning leftover crops in nearby states also worsens Delhi’s pollution. RWAs have been told to give electric heaters to guards to stop wood burning for heat. These efforts show a mixed plan to lower pollution by addressing both pollution sources and people’s habits.
However, this encore of worsening air quality in Delhi around Diwali might indicate a bigger issue. Bans on firecrackers during the festival might fix only part of the problem. Dust from construction, vehicle smoke, industry and burning crops are areas that require more policy intervention. GRAP measures may be good, but policies that target air pollution all year round may bring in lasting improvement.
But these issues have been known for years and the government’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) seeks to address them through a multitude of policy initiatives and central funding. However, as with any initiative, the NCAP too is not without its share of shortcomings, according to a recent assessment by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). The CSE’s assessment found many problems were preventing NCAP from working as well as intended.
A major issue, it found, is that NCAP focuses mainly on PM10, and not on PM2.5, which is more dangerous because it is smaller and inhaled deeper into the lungs. At first, PM10 was the focus because not many tools existed for checking PM2.5. Now, with better tools in cities, CSE thinks the programme should look more at PM2.5. This shift might help direct funding to fight pollution sources like cars and factories that heavily pollute with PM2.5. Now, too much money goes into controlling road dust, which mainly causes PM10, but not enough to areas making PM2.5, the study recommends.
Another problem is how cities are ranked in NCAP, the 15th Finance Commission and Swachh Vayu Survekshan (SVS). Sometimes, cities follow policies well under SVS but still do badly in reducing PM10. This raises doubts about whether actions really bring the right results. For instance, Delhi does well in the rankings in terms of policy measures, but not in actually lowering PM10. This shows even big policy moves might not truly cut pollution because of outside pollution and weather factors.
The CSE study also sees money and planning issues in states and cities. Though much money is given through NCAP and the Finance Commission, smaller cities find it hard to use these funds fully due to poor planning.