Delhi Smog: EPCA Suggests Diesel Vehicle Ban To Control Air Pollution
EPCA stressed the need for better weather forecasts to tackle air pollution.
The EPCA has suggested that plying of diesel vehicles be banned and thermal power plants be shut when pollution breaches ‘emergency’ levels in Delhi-NCR, as part of a fresh set of recommendations to strengthen the Graded Response Action Plan.
The Supreme Court-appointed panel, in its submission to the apex court today, has also pitched for stickers on vehicles reflecting fuel and age, so that based on the level of pollution, certain categories of vehicles can be prohibited from hitting the roads.
The recommendations form part of the Environment Pollution - Prevention and Control Authority’s assessment of GRAP’s implementation this season and its learnings from the smog episode which prompted it to enforce a series of emergency measures across the region.
Dwelling on the need to include further measures that can bring immediate relief during future smog episodes, the EPCA observed that stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is a contributory factor but not the only problem during the winter months.
"There may be a need for additional emergency measures like closure of all coal-based thermal plants and industries in the region. Currently, the Supreme Court has imposed a ban on pet coke and FO (furnace oil), but there may be a requirement to temporarily halt all other air polluting sources during peak smog periods,” the EPCA said.
It also stressed the need for better weather forecasts so that agencies have advance notice of the measures that need to be taken. Authorities were in the dark till the evening of November 6 that pollution levels were heading towards an alarming spike by the next morning, the EPCA noted.
"EPCA had no advance warning of this weather conditions. It only has information about the current state of pollution through the real-time monitoring from the air quality index. But across the world, where such smog alert systems are in place, a robust and reliable weather forecasting system is essential for action," it said.
There is a need for a vastly strengthened system of health advisories to people to take preventive action, the EPCA said, acknowledging the limitations of the current web- based system where information on the level of pollution (AQI) and health impacts is provided. It also pointed how the inadequacies in the existing public transport system was hindering the effective implementation of measures under GRAP such as odd-even car rationing scheme or enhanced parking fees.
"Currently, in Delhi, there are fewer buses on road than there were three years ago. The situation across NCR is also very unsatisfactory. Under GRAP (very poor category) generator sets are banned. But there is a huge power shortage (not in terms of generation but supply) in the districts of NCR. Therefore, mandating this will not work," it said.
The panel, headed by retired bureaucrat Bhure Lal, will take up the fresh recommendations with the Ministry of Environment and the Central Pollution Control Board next week.