ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

1
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

2
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

AIR POLLUTION: WHY DELHI IS THE COUNTRY’S

BURNING SENSATION

THE CONTEXT: The AQI of Delhi touching 640 in the first week of November, 2023 has led to lis ng
of Delhi as the world's most polluted ci es compiled by Swiss group IQAir. The quality of air in Delhi
was put under the ‘hazardous’ category.
As per the IQAir rankings,
Air pollu on in Delhi has been a consistent nightmare for Kolkata and Mumbai were also
policymakers and resident of the capital city, for years now. among the 5 worst-hit ci es by
Through this ar cle, we shall explore the causes behind such air pollu on in the year 2023
deteriora ng situa on in the capital city and effec veness of with an AQI of 206 and 162
measures taken. respec vely.

HOW GRAVE IS THE SITUATION OF AIR POLLUTION IN DELHI-NCR?

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the capital city of

India crossed the thresholds of 470 which invoked
the enforcement of stage 4 of the Graded Response
Ac on Plan (GRAP) by the Commission for Air
Quality Management. The ‘severe’ air quality status
of Delhi-NCR led to complete ban on all
construc on and demoli on ac vi es. Besides, this,
entry of all trucks except those carrying essen al
commodi es, or providing essen al services would
be stopped into Delhi.

CAUSES BEHIND THE AIR POLLUTION IN DELHI:

While there are some episodic causes such as stubble burning, there are many other long-term sources
that turn the air in Delhi toxic and deadly:

GEOGRAPHICAL  Landlocked nature: Being a landlocked megacity, Delhi has limited

REASONS avenues for flushing polluted air out of the city unlike the coastal ci es
where sea breezes help disperse the pollutants away from the land.
 Himalayan barrier: The Himalayas lying to the north of the capital city
blocks the escape route of the air, eventually causing the polluted air to
se le in the Delhi-NCR region.
 Inversion layer: Winters in Delhi are marked with degraded air quality
due to low wind speeds, rising moisture and presence of condi ons of
temperature inversion. All these meteorological condi ons trap the
pollutants to result into crea on of a pollutant dome engulfing the Delhi-
NCR region.
3
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

The temperature inversion is characterised by capping of cool air close

to the surface under a layer of a warm air. This inhibits the capacity of
the polluted air to ascend and disperse in the atmosphere, thus forcing
trapping of the pollutants in the cooler air below.
 The aerosols in the atmosphere (pollutants and dust par cles) in
moisture-laden air tend to absorb water vapour and swell, leading to low
visibility and smog.
 Wind direc on: The prevailing westerly and north-westerly winds with
the onset of winters in the Indian subcon nent carry toxic smoke from
crop burning from the neighbouring states of Delhi.

STUBBLE BURNING A study by IIT-Kanpur es mated that about 17-26% of the all the par culate
ma er in winters in Delhi-NCR is a ributed to biomass burning which
includes stubble burning.

The following factors have led to increase in stubble burning in the states
like Haryana, Punjab, Western U ar Pradesh etc.

a) PUSA-44 RICE VARIETY: Pusa-44 is a long-dura on variety of paddy

that takes 155-160 days to mature. Thus, the crop that is
transplanted in mid-June a er nursery sowing a month earlier is
ready for harves ng only towards late-October.
Since that leaves very li le me for field prepara on to sow the next
wheat crop, ideally before mid-November, farmers resort to burning
the standing stubble.

b) SUBSIDY TO FARMERS and ROLE OF COMBINED HARVESTORS: Till a

few decades ago, crop residue, including stubble, was used as dry
fodder for livestock or as fuel for the kitchen or incorporated in-situ
in soil. However, since 1990s, two factors boosted the stubble
burning culture:

4
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

One, free or highly subsidised power supply for groundwater

extrac on. With access to assured irriga on, paddy acreages in
Punjab and Haryana grew drama cally. The rice-wheat rota on
system generates substan al amounts of stubble.
The labour-intensive nature of paddy harves ng and threshing
pushed up the demand for labour. In the absence of cheap labour,
machines like the Combined Harvester appeared on the scene. This
machine only picked the plant’s top part (panicle) and le the
remaining stalk of about 2-3 feet (stubble) standing in the field.
Clearing this stalk now required a separate round of harves ng,
collec on and disposal. The easy solu on was to set it on fire.

Note: Farmers in most of the wheat-growing States barely have three

weeks between the kharif harvest and the sowing of wheat. The
fastest and easiest, cost-friendly way for farmers to manage sowing
wheat on me is to indulge in stubble burning of rice stalks and
straws.

c) AFFORDABILITY: While solu ons like happy-seeders, etc. are

available in the market now, only some wealthy farmers can afford
such farm machines for straw management. This leaves farm fires as
an easy, cheap solu on to management of stubble by poor farmers
to grow another crop on the same field, therea er.

VEHICULAR According to the Indian Ins tute of Tropical Meteorology’s findings, Delhi’s
EMISSIONS transporta on system alone accounts for 11% of the pollu on in the NCR.

 Between 1997 and 2011, Delhi’s popula on grew by 45% and registered
cars and two-wheelers grew by 250%.
 Experts argue that increasing traffic and number of private vehicles in
the metropolitan city of Delhi (due to inadequate investments by
government in public transporta on and gaps in last-mile connec vity)
have been causing a spike in the concentra on of emissions like PM2.5,
PM10, SO2, NO2 among others.
Projected Growth of Two-Wheelers Ownership by 2030 is depicted in
the graph below:

5
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

CONSTRUCTION The popula on spurt in Delhi, rising urbanisa on and industrialisa on have
pushed up the construc on ac vi es in and around the megacity. This has led
to increased levels of dust and par culate ma er in the air in Delhi-NCR.
WASTE SECTOR The burning of waste in landfills, biomass burning for cooking, use of diesel
generators, and emissions from the power plants further worsen the air
quality in the Delhi-NCR.

 Poor waste management: While the daily waste genera on rate in Delhi
is over 10,000 tons, the capacity of its already overflowing landfills to
collect and manage garbage is under 6,000 tons. This leads to the prac ce
of burning waste around residen al areas.
 Grey areas in regula on: Reports show that garbage is also burnt illegally
in landfills when curbs are in place.

FIRECRACKERS Despite the curbs placed on manufacture and sale of fire-crackers in Delhi,
the air quality in Delhi worsens due to the fireworks during fes vals like
Diwali. PM2.5 and sulphur dioxide (SO2) are the major pollutants generated
by firecrackers.

IMPACTS OF AIR POLLUTION

The alarmingly high levels of pollutants like Par culate Ma er (PM2.5, PM10) and N02 resulted into
healthcare emergency situa ons in the metropolitan city.

On Human Health:

Air pollu on shortens the lives of the residents of Delhi by around 11.9 years, according to the Air
Quality Life Index (AQLI) report 2023 by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Ins tute.

Impacts of  The PM2.5 par cles penetrate deep into a person’s lungs and
Par culate Ma er bloodstream, o en affec ng the lung func on and worsening
medical condi ons such as asthma, bronchi s and heart disease. Its
long-term exposure can even result into lung cancer and mortality.

6
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Inhaling the PM2.5 & PM10 par cles can result into health issues,
ranging from coughing and wheezing to asthma a acks and
bronchi s, as well as hypertension, heart diseases, strokes, and
premature death.

Impacts of NO2  Breathing air with a high concentra on of NO2 can irritate airways in
emissions the human respiratory system and aggravate respiratory diseases,
par cularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms (such as
coughing, wheezing or difficulty breathing), hospital admissions and
visits to emergency rooms.

Impacts of SO2  Short-term exposures to SO2 can harm the human respiratory
emissions system and make breathing difficult.
 People with asthma, par cularly children, are sensi ve to these
effects of SO2.
 SO2 emissions in the air generally lead to the forma on of other
sulphur oxides (SOx) which can react with other compounds in the
atmosphere to form small par cles. These par cles contribute to
par culate ma er (PM) pollu on.

Impacts of ground-  It can cause various health problems in the respiratory system, such
level ozone as coughing, chest pain, throat irrita on, conges on, wheezing,
asthma symptoms, reduced lung func on, and increased lung
inflamma on.
 It can also worsen exis ng lung diseases like bronchi s, emphysema,
and pneumonia.
 Ozone is most likely to reach unhealthy levels on hot sunny days in
urban environments but can s ll reach high levels during colder
months.
 Ozone can also be transported long distances by wind, so even rural
areas can experience high ozone levels.

On Economy:

 Cost of illness: The rise in the disease burden due to exposure to the toxic air pollutants
increases the hospitalisa on and treatment costs, further enhancing the out-of-pocket
expenditure of individuals.
 Produc vity loss: The economic growth tends to hit a low when the number of man-days
decrease in the wake of health concerns among the workers/employees. Studies indicate a loss
of 5 working days on an average during the peak pollu on weeks.

On Environment:

 Climate Change: Many of the drivers of air pollu on (i.e. combus on of fossil fuels, tailpipe
emissions from vehicles etc.) are also sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) such as
oxides of Nitrogen, Carbon dioxide, methane, etc.
7
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Damages to vegeta on: Ground-level ozone can lead to reduced agricultural yields, adversely
affect the survivability and growth of tree seedlings, and increase plants’ suscep bility to
diseases, pests and other environmental stresses.
 Acid rain: The reac ons of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur in the atmosphere to produce nitric
acid and sulphuric acid cause the acid rain to fall on ground in the form of wet deposi on or dry
deposi on. Acid rain is known to cause developmental and reproduc ve problems in aqua c life
(in lakes, ponds, etc.) and further degrade the fer lity of soils in the Delhi-NCR region which is
already facing problems of acidifica on and alkalisa on of soils.

MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEM

The following ini a ves have been taken by the Delhi government and central government to curb the
pollu on levels in Delhi-NCR:

IN-SITU MEASURES

 Na onal Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS): Under NAAQS 2009, 12 pollutants i.e. PM10,
PM2.5, SO2, NO2, NH3, Pb, O3, CO, Ni, As, B(a)P & Benzene are monitored on short term & long
term basis for Industrial/residen al and Sensi ve/ecological areas.

 Graded Response Ac on Plan (GRAP): The Supreme Court in 2017 mandated the CPCB to come
up with an emergency, comprehensive ac on plan, which was mapped out and submi ed to it
in December 2016.
Based on the assessment of the condi on of air quality in the Delhi-NCR region by System of
Air Quality and Weather Forecas ng and Research (SAFAR) in the form of Air Quality Index
(AQI), the authori es are ordered to implement the ac on plan to control the pollu on levels.

8
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

GRAP stage 4 was invoked recently (before Diwali): Ac on plan during this course
involves the following-
 Ban on plying of four-wheeled diesel light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR; BS-VI,
essen al and emergency services vehicles exempted.
 Ban on Delhi-registered diesel-run medium and heavy goods vehicles in the capital.
 Ban on entry of trucks other than electric and CNG ones in Delhi; those carrying
essen al commodi es are exempted.
 Closure of all industries that are not running on clean fuels in NCR is ordered, even in
areas that do not have PNG infrastructure and supply, other than the fuels as per the
standard list of approved fuels for NCR. Industries like milk and dairy units and those
involved in manufacturing life-saving medical equipment or devices, drugs, and
medicines shall, however, be exempted from these restric ons.
 Ban on construc on and demoli on works in linear public projects such as highways,
flyovers, overbridges, power transmission, and pipelines in Delhi-NCR.

 Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM): Following the hearing of ‘Aditya Dubey vs
Union of India’ case by the Supreme Court of India, an ordinance was passed by union
government to create an overarching, statutory and autonomous body to consolidate all
monitoring bodies, and to bring them on one pla orm so that air quality management can be
carried out in a more comprehensive, efficient, and me-bound manner. Later, the
‘Commission for Air Quality Management in the Na onal Capital Region and Adjoining Areas
Act 2021’ was passed to replace the ordinance.
 Delhi’s E-vehicle Policy 2020: Delhi is the first state to design evidence-based financial incen ves
such as waiver of road tax and registra on fee, scrapping incen ves, purchase incen ves, etc.
to encourage the purchase and adop on of electric vehicles in the state.
Key Targets of E-vehicle policy of Delhi are as follows:

Accelerated EV penetration across all vehicle segments so that 25% of all new vehicle
registrations are EVs by 2024

70% of the public transport bus fleet should constitute EV by 2025

Induction of 8000 pure electric buses by 2025

100% of all Delhi government official fleet to be electric by 2023

9
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Bharat Stage 6 standards: In April 2020, India leapfrogged from BS-IV to the implementa on
of BS-VI, with current standards similar to Euro-VI norms. The BS standards regulate tailpipe
emissions of air pollutants including
BRIEF BACKGROUND
par culate ma er, SOx and NOx as well as
Based on the recommenda ons of the
carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and Mashelkar Commi ee in 2002 (which proposed
methane. a road map for the rollout of Euro-based
emission norms in India), the Na onal Auto Fuel
 Na onal Clean Air Programme (NCAP):
policy was announced officially in 2003.
Launched in 2019, the programme focuses The road map for the implementa on of the BS
on city-specific ac on plans that will be norms was laid out un l 2010. The policy also
created guidelines for auto fuels, reduc on of
developed for 102 non-a ainment ci es in
pollu on from older vehicles and R&D for air
India that exceed na onal air quality quality data crea on and health administra on.
safeguards. It aims to reduce PM2.5 levels India has adopted Bharat Stage (BS) Emission
Standards since 2000, modelled on EU norms.
by 20-30 percent by 2024 (compared to
2017 levels).
 Con ngency measures taken: When the air quality in the capital city deteriorates and crosses
the safe limits, the government of Delhi is compelled to undertake emergency measures to bring
down the pollu on with the help of smog towers and cloud-seeding.

Smog towers: The smog tower is a 24-metre-high structure fi ed with fans and air filters and
it will draw in polluted air from the top and release purified air near the ground through fans
fi ed on sides.

Cloud-seeding: Cloud seeding is a form of weather modifica on. It is the process of ar ficially
inducing or increasing precipita on by dispersing external agents, such as silver iodide, dry
ice or salts, into clouds using aircra or by dispersion devices located on the ground. These
par cles act as nuclei to provide a base for snowflakes to form.

EX-SITU MEASURES

Since the sources of pollu on in Delhi are also based in the neighbouring states, the following
measures are being taken to control the external sources of air pollu on in Delhi-NCR:

 Promo on of Agricultural Mechaniza on for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue in the State
of Punjab, Haryana, U ar Pradesh & NCT of Delhi Scheme: It is a Central Sector scheme that
provides financial assistance to the Co-opera ve Socie es of farmers, FPOs, Self-Help Groups,
Registered Farmers Socie es / farmers groups, Private Entrepreneurs, Group of women farmers
or self-help groups for establishment of farm machinery banks for custom hiring of in-situ crop
residue management machineries. Farmers can access subsidised machinery like Happy Seeder,
Straw Chopper / Mulcher, Rotary Slasher, Reversible M B Plough, Rotavator, bailers, etc. for
stubble management in their fields.
10
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Pusa Decomposer: Developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Ins tute (IARI) based in Pusa,
the bio-decomposer can turn crop residue into manure in 15 to 20 days and therefore, can
prevent stubble burning.
 Deterrence: Stubble burning is a crime according to sec on 188 of the Indian Penal Code,
sec on 144 of CrPC and Air (Preven on and Control of Pollu on) Act,1981. The farmers found
viola ng the regula ons may be fined up to Rs. 1500-5000 per acre as environmental
compensa on, which varies from state to state.

EXPLORING WHY AIR POLLUTION IS STILL A MENACE IN DELHI-NCR?

Numerous incen ves, schemes and penal provisions are in place to curb the air pollu on, yet the
region of Delhi-NCR is engulfed with toxic haze in winters. This implies certain challenges remain to
fully address the problem, some of which are discussed below:

NOT ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES: Stubble burning and vehicular emissions are two major sources
of air pollu on in the Delhi-NCR region. The following challenges remain in this context:

 Affordability concerns for farmers: The subsidies provided for farm implements such as happy
seeder, rotavactor, etc. are insufficient to incen vise the small and marginal farmers to adopt
them. Studies indicated the labour-intensive nature of the processes for in-situ stubble
management which raise the costs associated.

For instance: A single baler costs about Rs 14.5 lakh without subsidies — the costs of the rake
and cu er are extra, around Rs 2.5-3 lakh. Each baler can cover 15-20 acres in a day. If the
weather is favourable, they can operate for around 45 days. Currently, Punjab has around 32
lakh hectares of rice fields. Depending on how many days they operate, only 15-18% of this area
can be covered by the available balers in the state.

 Funding constraints: The financial assistance provided by the state governments of Haryana,
Punjab and U ar Pradesh for management of stubble fall short of the targeted incen ve of Rs.
100 per quintal of paddy produced to those farmers who will not burn paddy residue. Thus,
farmers find se ng the fire on residues of harvested paddy as an easy and pocket-friendly
solu on.
The budgetary alloca ons under the Na onal Clean Air Programme have also been noted to
insufficiently and inequitably allocated among the urban local bodies. Other than the
alloca on of funds, however, mechanisms must be put in place to ensure that these funds are
u lised for maximum impact. Yet, there remains ambiguity in fund u lisa on and governance.

11
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Poor inter-state coordina on: The air pollutants transcend the physical boundaries of states.
However, the measures in place for the management of stubble burning, tailpipe emissions,
clean fuel standards enforcement have not proven much successful due to weak framework for
inter-state coordina on.

PM2.5 emissions in India are formed in both primary and secondary ways. The secondary
pollutants spread faster and farther than the primary ones, travelling across states, ci es
and jurisdic onal borders.

 Populist measures: The wait and watch approach of the Delhi government to implement the
odd-even scheme has raised ques ons on the poli cal will of the government to address the
root causes. Also, the basis for odd-even scheme is not well-founded.
 Illegal construc ons: Over the last six years, various authori es in the na onal capital have
iden fied more than 55,000 illegal construc ons and encroachments. This aggravates the dust
and aerosol injec on into the atmosphere and add to the pollu on levels in the capital city.
 Weaknesses in public transporta on: While Delhi remains the only city in the country to have
an all-CNG public bus transport system, it has failed to expand it enough. Also, the lack of an
integrated public transport system in the capital of India is responsible for the persis ng
problem of air pollu on in Delhi-NCR.
 Ques ons on Efficacy of Smog Towers: While the Delhi government claimed that the smog
tower installed at Cannaught Place was capable of reducing pollu on by about 80%, the actual
results revealed their lower capacity to clean the air which was just 34%-43%. Thus, proper R&D
on the efficacy of smog towers is lacking.
According to the Delhi Pollu on Control Commi ee (DPCC), Delhi having an area of about 1,483
sq. km, may require 47,229 smog towers cos ng Rs 11,80,725 crore (approx.) and a recurring
cost of about Rs 15 lakh per month for each tower. This implies the significantly high costs of
installing smog towers in the megacity which is not a feasible solu on.

The smog tower installed at Cannaught Place on pilot basis cost around Rs. 20 crores.

 Limita ons of ar ficial rain: The findings of the ₹200-crore CAIPEX Cloud Aerosol Interac on
and Precipita on Enhancement Experiment Phase-4 revealed that not all clouds are seedable,
and not all clouds will make rain. There are clouds that will get dissipated on seeding.
Conduc ng the experiment during pre-monsoon or post monsoon (as is the case in Delhi) could
have different outcomes as the number of convec ve clouds were fewer and rela vely lower in
the atmosphere (and therefore having less water).
 Behavioural issue: Some studies have pointed out the lack of awareness among some farmers
regarding custom hiring and incen ves for in-situ stubble management. Also, one of the major

12
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

concerns is the lackadaisical a tude of people who resort to pollu ng ac vi es like burning
firecrackers, burning waste, using private vehicles etc.

WAY FORWARD

A strategic plan is necessary—one that is based on an es mate of the capital available, can be easily
implemented, and will lead to prac ces that contribute to the curbing of pollu on.

 Improving public transporta on: Public transport needs to be improved to discourage personal
motorised travel. India only has 1.2 buses for every 1,000 people, for instance, while the global
average is four. India requires even more than the global average, given its high popula on
density.
 Low emission alterna ves: LNG and CNG can also be popularised further. The transi on should
be to a mix of low-emission technologies with eventual adop on of an Electric Vehicle (EV)
fleet as the cost of ba eries declines and the renewable energy contribu on to the grid
increases. Effec ve implementa on of FAME-II can facilitate the decarbonisa on of
transporta on in the country.
 Alterna ves modes of travel: Through awareness drives, the government and civil society
organisa ons must encourage cycling or walking; use of carpooling and public transport.
 Robust interstate coordina on: Ci es and states must therefore look beyond their immediate
jurisdic on and aim for regional-level ini a ves.

FORUM FOR DECARBONISING TRANSPORT ini a ve

NITI Aayog and WRI India have created the Forum for Decarbonising Transport to catalyze
and sustain stakeholder engagements to support policymaking for more ambi ous
transport ac on. The forum was launched by NITI Aayog and WRI India on August 23, 2021.

The Forum provides an impetus for cross-country and cross-sectoral knowledge exchange
to iden fy tangible and measurable outcomes along with strategy to achieve them.

 Airshed management: Airshed-based air quality management calls for an area-wide approach,
se ng standards, monitoring, and enforcement. Delhi falls under the Indo-Gange c airshed.
The need of the hour is to encourage and further strengthen the airshed management. This
requires first recognising that air pollu on is trans-boundary. Besides, it demands giving more
teeth to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in the NCR and Adjoining Areas
to enforce and monitor implementa on of such integrated air pollu on management approach.

13
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

 Waste-to-wealth approach: Ensuring that a robust decentralised framework for collec on and
marke ng of stubble is in place, can help reduce air pollu on to a great extent. The Na onal
Biofuel Policy, 2018 along with measures like SATAT, GOBARDHAN, etc. must be implemented
properly by the central and state governments.
o BioCNG and bioethanol produce bio-slurry as byproduct which can be used as manure
to replenish the soil fer lity. Thus, through awareness and adequate incen ves, sufficient
market for paddy straw should be created.

 Direct seeding of Rice technique: Direct seeding

Projec ons by the Interna onal Rice
is a crop establishment system wherein rice seeds Research Ins tute (IRRI), Philippines
are sown directly into the field, as opposed to the an cipate rice produc on needs to
increase by 25% in the next 25 years in
tradi onal method of growing seedlings in a
order to meet global demand.
nursery, then transplan ng into flooded fields.
Promo ng this technique is necessary to control the emissions of Greenhouse Gases like CO2,
methane, NOX etc. that are pollu ng air in the Delhi-NCR region.
 R&D on technological solu ons: An evidence-based approach to technological solu ons is
impera ve. Therefore, inves ng me and resources in pilot projects and R&D on effec veness
of the smog towers, cloud-seeding etc. are required by the state governments in collabora on
with the think-tanks.
 Strict penal provisions: The ‘Polluter Pays Principle’ must be enforced strictly by the central and
state pollu on control boards (CPCB, SPCB), Na onal Green Tribunal (NGT) and CAQM. Thus,
the penal es for viola on of pollu on regula ons must be enhanced by each state government
to create deterrence.
 Budgetary alloca ons: Addressing the transboundary environmental problem of air pollu on
demands raise in the budgetary alloca ons under schemes like NCAP, SATAT, GOBARDHAN,
Crop Residue Management etc. Furthermore, alloca on of resources must be guided by
principles of equity and transparency in u lisa on. Performance-based financial incen ves
and ranking for states and urban governments may be ins tuted as addi onal measures.

THE CONCLUSION: There are mul ple dimensions to India’s air pollu on crisis. Policymakers,
investors, and civil society need to come together to combat it. Success will depend on adequate and
targeted financing, tapping the right industries, proper execu on of policies, collabora on,
coordina on, and knowledge sharing.

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS UPSC PYQ

Q. In spite of various efforts by the government, the air quality GS-1 2015
in the Delhi-NCR region witnesses severe deteriora on. In
this context, discuss the factors responsible for air

14
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

pollu on in Delhi-NCR. What measures are required at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are
na onal and regional level to address the issue? the three mega ci es of the
country, but the air pollu on is
Q. Iden fy the reasons behind the persistent problem of air much more serious problem in
pollu on in the Delhi-NCR region. What changes in policy Delhi as compared to the other
measures do you suggest preven ng and control this two. Why is this so?
problem?
GS-3 2020
Q. Delhi’s air pollu on is rooted in sources emana ng outside
the capital city. In this context, discuss the causes of What are the key features of the
deteriora ng air quality in Delhi during winters. Also, Na onal Clean Air Programme
men on what measures should be taken to address these (NCAP) ini ated by the
root causes. Government of India?

Q. Enumerate the objec ves and provisions of the Na onal GS-3 2021
Clean Air Programme. To what extent has it been
effec veness in addressing the problem of air pollu on in Describe the key points of the
the country? revised Global Air Quality
Guidelines (AQGs) recently
Q. What is cloud seeding? Discuss its effec veness in released by the World Health
reducing air pollu on in megaci es like Delhi. Organisa on (WHO). How are
these different from its last
Q. What are the provisions of the Central Crop Residue update in 2005? What changes
Management Scheme? Also, highlight the effec veness of in India’s Na onal Clean Air
this scheme in bringing down air pollu on levels in the Programme are required to
capital city of India. achieve revised standards?

REFERENCES:

New Delhi among world's most polluted ci es, India figures eighth among countries with worst air qu-
The New Indian Express

ORF_OccasionalPaper_291_AirPollu on.pdf (orfonline.org); Financing, Technology, and Inter-State

Coordina on: Impera ves for Cleaning India’s Air | ORF (orfonline.org)

Ge ng to the root of Delhi’s air pollu on - The Hindu BusinessLine

Explained | What has Delhi done over the decades to combat air pollu on? - The Hindu

Explained: What is Delhi-NCR’s ac on plan ‘GRAP’ to fight air pollu on? - The Hindu

Ar ficial rain to fix pollu on remains a nebulous science - The Hindu

To Tackle Stubble Burning, Governments Have Repeatedly Chosen Ineffec ve Routes (thewire.in)

15
ED DAY-86 LUKMAAN IAS

16