Delhi Air Pollution: GRAP and Odd-Even Plans Under Scrutiny-What Needs to Change?| WATCH

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With winter fast approaching, we delve into the alarming rise in pollution levels, the contributing factors, and the steps individuals and governments can take to combat this pressing issue. Learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones, the effectiveness of current policies, and what the future holds for our air quality.     #DelhiPollution #AirQuality #CSE #EnvironmentalAwareness #CleanAir #AirPollution #WinterSmog #SustainableLiving #PublicHealth #BreatheEasy #ClimateAction #HealthFirst #OneIndia #OneIndiaNews                   ~HT.178~PR.362~GR.344~ED.103~

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to One India. I am your host Riya and today we are discussing a very

00:08critical issue that has once again gripped Delhi NCR and it is the rising air pollution.

00:16As winter approaches, the air quality starts worsening, raising health alarms across the

00:21region and with the AQI level skyrocketing and we just recorded 400, 400 number. What

00:28exactly is causing this hazardous pollution and what can be done to tackle it? To answer

00:35all these pressing questions, we are joined today by Shambhavi Shukla, who is the program

00:40manager for air pollution at the Centre for Science and Environment. Shambhavi, welcome

00:46to the show. Thank you so much for the invitation. Shambhavi, let's just dive right in. As the

00:52cold weather sets in, we often hear alarming reports about the rise in the air pollution

00:58level. So can you give us an overview of the current air quality situation in Delhi NCR?

01:05So see what is happening is right now the pollution is now going to the very poor and

01:11poor category and the pollution is increasing. This is the normal phenomena that we see every

01:16year that happens in Delhi and of course in other regions close to Delhi. So this is a

01:23common phenomena. But then what is like happening right now, especially in winters, what happens

01:27is with the onset of winter, as soon as the temperature starts to drop, there is like

01:34other metrological factors such as wind speed, which is very less in Delhi right now. And

01:41also the mixing height, the boundary layer, it also comes down. So then there is lesser

01:46space for pollutants to disperse. So then if pollutants are not getting dispersed, they're

01:51not moving outside Delhi. And also with festivals coming in, all the festivals are falling in

01:58October right now this year. So there is a congestion problem that happens like the traffic

02:05intensity is very high right now when we see it for Delhi. So that is how like the pollution

02:11is changing. The pollution has gone from moderately polluted category to very poor since last

02:16two days. Right. True. So my follow up question to you is the CAC, you know, it has been actively

02:24involved in raising awareness and advocating for the policy changes when it comes to air

02:28pollution. So what initiative your organization is currently working on to combat the air

02:34pollution, particularly in Delhi NCR? So what happens is right now, like as an organization,

02:39if I talk about, we are continuously doing public advocacy, as you said, rightly said,

02:45we are doing that. And of course, whenever required, we try to engage a lot of like we

02:51try to create a lot of public awareness through our press briefings and all through which

02:57we can make people aware in simple languages. What is happening right now with the current

03:03situation of air pollution and how this can be remediated. And also it gives out a clear

03:09message to the government as well that what actions can you take. So right now, we have

03:14already seen that the Graded Response Action Plan is in place right now. And yesterday,

03:20only I think the GRAP2 measures are in place right now. The CAQM has implemented GRAP2.

03:27But then when you look at the measures that are present under GRAP2, these are all enforcement

03:33measures. And this should be applicable throughout the year and not just especially during winters

03:39when the winters are setting in. So, if you're looking at it at an action level, so then

03:46these actions can be taken place throughout the year. If you want to check whether the

03:54construction activities are doing their work rightly, they're not creating dust, they're

03:58not creating chaos, there is control of traffic congestion on the road, then public transport

04:04should be planned in a way that people are given such connectivity at their end, so that

04:11automatically people shift from their private vehicles to public transport.

04:15Right, very rightly said, actually. So, now I would want to shift this focus to, you know,

04:22the people who are getting affected, right, which is us living in the Delhi NCR. And there

04:28is a group like the children, or we can even say the elderlies or especially with the pre-existing

04:34health conditions, right. These are the ones who are very much vulnerable groups. So, what

04:39are some of the long term health implications people should be aware of that is being caused

04:46due to the air pollution and how can they keep themselves protected, or the measure

04:51self precautionary measures that they can take?

04:54So there are any number of studies which have actually given proof that air pollution is

04:58actually impacting the health of not just elderly and children, but everyone right now,

05:04because like, the pollution levels that we see on the record, and there are boards displaying

05:10pollution levels, these are the ambient levels, but then what we are breathing is much higher,

05:16and the exposure is much higher. So immediately, the impact that happens on people is the breathing

05:22issues that they encounter. So they have asthma, bronchitis, then other COPD, like

05:27the heart diseases, it aggravates those things. And especially for kids and elderly, where

05:36they have a weaker immunity. And also with the kids, what happened is, they have a growing

05:42lungs. So they tend to inhale much more air than a normal adult. So they're inhaling much

05:48more pollutant than we are doing. So that is the reason they are continuously like,

05:55over the years, we have seen that the number of respiratory cases, particularly has increased

06:00a lot. And also when we talk about different kinds of pollutant, so especially during winters,

06:06so there are two kinds of particles. One is PM 2.5, and PM 10. PM 2.5 are the smaller

06:12particles and PM 10 are the bigger particles. So with the smaller particles, what happens

06:16is, as soon as you breathe in the air, the bigger particles, PM 10 tends to stay up to

06:23lungs only. But then what happens with PM 2.5 is, it goes into mixes with the bloodstream.

06:34So then, like the impact is very high on the health. And not just that, like even with

06:40the pregnant women, what we see is, the unborn baby, the placenta, it also gets impacted

06:47because of high levels of pollution. But then that needs to be accounted, like all the planning

06:53that we have, all the actions that we are taking, everything should be linked to health

06:58as well. Because health is the direct impact that we can see of the increasing air pollution.

07:03Right, right. See, we have talked about what is causing these air pollution, we have talked

07:08about, you know, your initiative, and of course, the government is, have also implemented

07:14CRAB 2. And in coming days, they'll be implementing further more campaigns or the rules to combat

07:20this. Then we've also talked about the people who are facing these problems primarily, or

07:26who are more exposed to these. Now, my last question to you is, Shambhavi, what can be

07:33done as of now? Because of course, it's a very long process, as you also mentioned earlier,

07:39that this has to be taken care of from the very beginning of the year, be it the construction,

07:43be it the controlling of, you know, the vehicle emission and everything, it has to be done

07:47from the very beginning, but since it is not being done, so what can be done now? Because

07:52of course, we are, we can see that we are living in gas chamber as of now. So what measures

07:58can be taken from the government or individual to help people of Delhi NCR in this adverse

08:06weather condition?

08:07So, see, I would like to bring this point up also, because Delhi has done a lot of actions,

08:13and there is definitely a 7% decrease that we see since 2019 in pollution levels. But

08:19then Delhi again needs 60% reduction in its particulate pollution level to reach the standard

08:26and standard is something which, like in which you can easily breathe. So, that is

08:32the amount of pollution that we need to reduce right now from our current levels. And in

08:38terms of action, when we talk about sectorally, so when we say waste burning, so there is

08:44a 25% area in Delhi itself, where the system of collection, segregation and management

08:52of waste is not happening, that doesn't lie under the purview of the municipal boundaries.

08:58So that is the kind of waste that is additionally being generated and not being monitored. So,

09:04when the waste is usually dumped on the roadside, what people does is usually they burn it off

09:10to get rid of it. So that is the major problem that we are facing. With the vehicles we have

09:15seen that, like Delhi was the first one to implement BS-6, coming with BS-6 fuel also,

09:22then there was a CNG program, the electric vehicles are coming in. But then what we are

09:27seeing right now is, there is a problem of congestion that is rising. Like the number

09:31of vehicles that are getting added on the road is very high. So, if you talk about like

09:37with a 20 million population of Delhi, we can see that there are 6.4 million of vehicles

09:44which are being registered in a year. So, that's a lot of number that is adding up to

09:50on the road. When we see on the road, so a bus usually, like a bus carries around 40,

09:5730 to 40 passengers. But then at the same time, a car is just carrying one to two people.

10:03So then like the 90% of the road space is actually occupied by the private vehicles,

10:09and just the, which is carrying just the 10% of the population actually. So that needs

10:13to be changed, our roads have to be designed well. And also when we see industry sector,

10:19so of course Delhi has brought in the clean fuel policy and all the regulated industries,

10:25the registered industries that are present, that has already converted to clean fuel.

10:30But then there is also some unregulated industries in the neighbours of Delhi, which have actually

10:37not converted to clean fuel. So that is also causing a problem. And especially like for

10:43this year, when we see, like we put usually the blame on this stubble burning. But then

10:48till last day, like till yesterday, the contribution of stubble burning for last 10 days was less

10:55than one person. So this is all the like, whatever is being generated is mostly the

11:00local sources. So we need to curb pollution at our own like, at our own city level. And

11:07also when, so there was this IITM and Suffolk study that has come, like that publishes data

11:14on the legal time monitoring. And among the local sources, it has been pointed out that

11:18more than 50% of the pollution is coming from the transport sector, the Delhi transport

11:22sector. So that like that should be the focus on and like, that is how the action should

11:28be done. Like, like the government should be very aggressive in taking down actions,

11:34not just pinpointing like, like I mentioned in GRAB 2, like, these are just the enforcement

11:39measures. And this should be like a year round thing and not just a winter thing. So like,

11:44we need to be very aggressive in our enforcement system. So this is the problem where we are

11:50lacking right now. And also it's just not about Delhi problem because pollution doesn't

11:53follow any specific boundary or something. So it's the whole endogangetic problem where

11:59different states also have to work together to curb down the pollution because like, even

12:07for Delhi, there are other sources around Delhi from other cities and states which is

12:12coming to Delhi. But then at the same time, Delhi is also contributing to their sources.

12:17So we need to work also at a regional level so that this pollution problem and the gas

12:22chamber problem can be resolved. I'll be taking your last two cents on the

12:26same topic, Shambhavi. Can we say that as of now, self precautionary measures and awareness

12:34is the only hope of Delhi people and the people living in the Delhi NCR region to combat this

12:41situation that we are all in? Because of course, bigger the problem, the bigger the time it

12:47takes to, you know, eliminate that problem. So can we say this, that as of now, the people,

12:54all they can do is take precautionary measures and just spread awareness and take their own

13:01ownership in helping and cleaning the environment? Yeah. So one is, of course, the precautionary

13:06measure that you are saying. But then the other thing at an individual level, what we

13:10can do is, if like around our area and only if we can look up to like whatever waste burning

13:16is happening or whatever illegal activities that is happening, if we can keep a tap on

13:21that and we can make, actually we have a portal that exists where we can put a complaint

13:27and that complaint goes to the Central Pollution Control Board or the other respective department,

13:32government departments. So that can be resolved. So we have to be vigilant enough to see what

13:37is happening around us. And also on the other side, what as people can do is, if they can

13:45switch from their own private transport to public transport, if they stop bringing their

13:49own cars and two wheelers and they can just use the buses or the metro system, so then

13:54it would definitely reduce the congestion and the vehicular pollution that is happening.

13:59And also there are small, small tips that people can, of course, do at home is not use

14:03unnecessary electricity and all. So that is, of course, that's best.

14:07Well, Shambhavi, I think this is a very huge topic and very debatable topic and it can

14:13keep going on for hours and hours because the matter is so huge and every year we are

14:18facing this. But we are very delighted that you took some time out and, you know, had

14:25a conversation with us on this very important topic that is the need of the hour also. Thank

14:31you for joining us on One India and thank you for sharing your insights. Thank you so

14:36very much. Thank you so much.

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