The price for clean air?

Last week, India has a mixed bag on its concerns for the environment. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned the focus of the Paris Climate Conference to the historic high carbon emissions of rich nations and asked them to ratify the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol which major emitters have not done, back home it received flak from the Delhi High Court that compared the capital of India to a “gas chamber” and directed the state government to ensure “zero tolerance” for violation of rules. While Prime Minister Modi asked the world leaders that an equitable system emission reduction should be consistent with the carbon space that nations occupy; the condition back home created a flutter. It was his arch rival Delhi Chief Minister who came out with a solution.  In a bid to curb air pollution that has assumed “critical” level, the Delhi Government announced that private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers will be allowed to ply only on alternate days starting January 1.

The proposal desires that Delhites get concerned about the pollution levels and become a part of the solution by exercising restrain. The proposal drew sharp criticism from all quarters. Congress general secretary and spokesperson Shakeel Ahmad said that Arvind Kejriwal government’s decision was aimed at cheap publicity and will cause harassment to the common man. Shakkel Ahmed had to eat a humble pie. When the former environment minister shared at GLOBE COP21 Legislators Summit in Paris that he had suggested the same way back in 2010 to the then Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit the same idea. “In May 2010 when I was in Beijing, I saw their government had come out with a policy that one can take out car once in two days. At that time Beijing was one of the most polluted cities. I had told Sheila Dikshit to look into it and see whether one can do so in Delhi. She said she would get it examined as public transport was a problem.” Jiaram Ramesh went on to say that “If implemented seriously, the decision will have constructive impact.” Giving a boost to Arvind Kejriwal and exposing that Congress had done little to handle the environment issues in India.

The social networking sites have been abuzz with questions and light humour that mock the suggestion. Reactions only show that how insensitive are Indians to an important concern on environment especially when the pollution levels have hit levels that have been described as unliveable.  Let’s ponder for a minute. What if the Idea of “Odd-Even” had come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi? It won’t be exaggeration to say that a large number of Central ministers, Members of Parliaments, and workers of ruling BJP would have gone out whole heartily to support the same. Same way, they had gone out for the Safai Abhiyan-The cleanness drive launched by Prime Minister Modi.  They would have got the lens men together to show how they have started commuting by car pools. Since, the idea has come from the Aam Aadmi Party leader, there has to be reaction, even if it means making the lives of the next generations a hell.

Beijing has implemented the same.  The Beijing car limit was first imposed in 2008, when the city hosted the Olympics. The move followed a surge in vehicle purchases by China’s booming middle class, with cars increasing from 2.6 million in 2005 to close to 5 million by 2010.Beijing’s current system doesn’t encourage buying of more cars.  Instead of having an odd even number system, which will prevent car owners from taking out their vehicles every other day. Cars in Beijing are limited only one day every week ! During which commuters rely on either car pools or take the subways. Under the current limits, which rotates numbers every 13 weeks, tail plate numbers ending 4 and 9 are banned on Mondays, 5 and 0 on Tuesdays, 1 and 6 on Wednesdays, 2 and 7 on Thursdays, and 3 and 8 on Fridays. There are no limits on the weekend.

Now that idea has been mooted, it’s time to take certain lesson from the Beijing model. Much ahead of imposing vehicular restrictions, China’s capital built an extensive subway and public bus network in a three-year building spree. The Chinese authorities also installed a sophisticated automatic surveillance system in the city using cameras to strictly enforce the rules rather than leave the task to the traffic police. Or else Delhi may see surge in corruption, the very issues that AAP came to power fighting against. Studies have revealed that wealthy resident bought second car and the same is expected to happen in Delhi too. Today, Beijing traffic authority only issues 17,600 vehicle registrations through a lottery system every month, prompting some Beijingers to wait for months before being able to drive cars and the similar system.

Despite the opposition, the AAP government must not let go of the opportunity. A sense of urgency has been created, and if implemented in the right manner it would open an option for Indians to explore and co-exist. Car pooling would bare minimum bring that change in the mindset. The residents have to be made aware of how a change in their lifestyle is the price they will have to pay for breathing clean air.   Delhi must set an example. All steps whether to introduce the CNG buses in Delhi, to shift tanneries out of Kanpur were taken under the directive of the courts. This time the political class has taken an initiative and should take it ahead with right check and balances in place.