‘Blame Game, Shifting Accountability Won’t Reduce Delhi Pollution’
Vikas Kumar Verma, a research scholar in geography, says that NCR pollution continues to pile up due to lethargy of its citizens and administrators. His views:
There is an old adage: Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed. These words should strike and resonate deeply into everyone’s mind when you begin to talk about the current problem of our National Capital Region. There is one harsh reality that goes deep inside the core – that Delhi keeps on struggling with both Yamuna pollution and hazardous air.
It is not just a systemic but a multi-source problem far beyond from being fixed within a few days, weeks or months. No doubt that the Government of Delhi keeps spending huge money, recycle cleansing drives and also implementing vehicular and industrial measures repeatedly. Yet, there seems to be no immediate relief for the citizens.
The harsh fact about the river Yamuna is fed with millions of litres of untreated sewage but the sewage treatment plant (STPs) fall short by around 400 million litres per day. This untreated wastewater turns into toxic foam which is visible during the annual Chhath puja celebrations. Most of these untreated wastewaters come from Industries that are discharging them directly into the Yamuna through drains. Unless these industries are not fined heavily, they will keep on polluting holy Yamuna.
Though many new STPs and waste water management systems are under construction, most of them are running late beyond its construction period. Who is to be blamed: The concurrent government, the enforcement agencies or the erring infrastructure departments?
When talking about the air pollution, construction dust, vehicular emissions, crop residue burning are the major polluters. More than half of the pollutants come due to negligence in construction works. Poorly regulated construction sites release fine dust which pollutes the environment. Despite bans and emergency measures, enforcement is inconsistent and temporary thanks to the apathetic attitude at all levels.
You cannot expect the chief minister or the home minister or the urban development minister to be present at every site of violation with a stick like the teacher of a primary school and mend ways of the erring `students’ or the staff.
Though none can set or give a timeline to wipe out these problems in a stipulated time frame, strong enforcement, strict rules and regulations and active and aware participation of the residents of Delhi can mark a new beginning. The main problem, according to me, lies in the fact that multiple agencies like the Delhi Jal Board, MCD, NGT, and even the ministries overlap with each other ultimately slowing down the due process.
General public behaviour matters a lot and before jumping haphazardly into some kind of corrective process, the residents of Delhi need to be made aware and to be mobilized for the cause of a clean and clear Delhi. All these problems are deeply embedded in daily life and only long term strict enforcement, behavioural change and infrastructure upgrades can clean the air and water of Delhi. Seasonal bans or festival clean-ups, Odd-Even vehicular regulations, dharna pradarshan, by `mobs’ and NGOs, PILs etc will serve little relief. It is high time everyone to woke up and came together for the cause of a revived and fresh Delhi.
As told to Rajat Rai
