https://scroll.in/article/857504/centre-has-the-powers-to-tackle-delhis-pollution-crisis-but-it-is-passing-the-buck
[links in on-line article]
Centre has the powers to tackle Delhi’s pollution crisis, but it is
passing the buck
In the past, the environment ministry has bypassed state governments to
deal with pollution.
Can the Centre bypass the Delhi government to take emergency and
long-term steps to tackle the annual air pollution crisis in the
capital? It can, legal experts say. The Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change enjoys blanket legal powers to prevent damage to
public health from pollution anywhere in the country.
Indeed, the ministry has exercised these powers in the past, shutting
down factories and other projects to avoid water, air and soil
pollution, although, more often than not, it has done so on the
directions of the courts.
In Delhi, however, the central government has decided to act as a
coordinator rather than a leader in tackling the pollution crisis. On
November 9, as severe smog precipitated a public health emergency in the
city, the environment ministry constituted a “high level committee to
propose and monitor solutions to air pollution”. The next day, it called
a meeting of officials from Delhi and neighbouring states and told them
to “strictly implement” existing regulations and the Supreme Court’s
orders on tackling air pollution. It could have done much more. “Under
the Environment Protection Act, the central government has complete
executive powers to do whatever it deems necessary to stop environmental
pollution,” said environment lawyer Ritwick Dutta.
Section 5 of the Act states:
“Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law but subject to
the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, in the exercise
of its powers and performance of its functions under this Act, issue
directions in writing to any person, officer or any authority and such
person, officer or authority shall be bound to comply with such
direction.”
These powers extend to closing, prohibiting or regulating any industry,
operation or process. “This provision was to ensure the central
government can act in the cases of environmental crises where states are
unable to take action due to local pressures,” Dutta added. “But the
environment ministry has not done anything beyond requesting the
obvious: that states must implement existing regulations.”
Acting proactively
In the past, however, the ministry has invoked this law to, for
instance, ban expansion of industries in several critically polluted
areas of the country as well as new mining activities in the Western
Ghats in 2013.
In case of Delhi’s pollution crisis, in contrast, the ministry has
passed the buck to the state and its neighbours. At Thursday meeting, it
asked Delhi’s officials to “strictly comply” with the Supreme Court’s
ban on the use of furnace oil, diesel generators, brick kilns, stone
crushers, hot mix plants, and enforce regulations on garbage burning and
dust control. The following day, Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan said
in an interview to NDTV: “The Government of India has been in touch with
the neighbouring state governments...We have instructed the Delhi
government to ensure that there is no loophole in terms of what they
have to do.”
But as Geetanjoy Sahu, an assistant professor at the Tata Institute of
Social Sciences, Mumbai, pointed out, the ministry does not need to rely
on the courts or state governments to stop violation of the
environmental rights of citizens. “Under the Environment Protection Act,
the ministry can issue notifications or sub-legislation to address
issues like Delhi pollution and initiate penal proceeding against the
polluters who violate these rules,” Sahu said.
The ministry used this law to tackle the waste management crisis in the
country in 2000, drafting new solid waste management rules. In 2006, as
assessing environmental impact of projects became a bone of contention,
it came up with the Environment Impact Assessment Notification. “It
needs to be asked from the ministry why it did not act in case of
Delhi’s air pollution,” Sahu said.
The ministry can proactively deal with air pollution under the Air Act
of 1981 as well, said Kanchi Kohli, legal research director of the
Namati Environmental Justice Programme at the Centre for Policy
Research. “It has the mandate to mediate between states in such a
crisis, but it has failed to do so effectively.”
Shirking responsibility
Broadly, environment is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution.
The environment ministry drafts regulations to tackle pollution and
enforces them through central and state Pollution Control Boards. While
the state boards can formulate their own rules and regulations depending
on local conditions, they cannot dilute or violate the central rules
drafted by the environment ministry.
But leave alone coming up with new directions, the ministry has been
diluting its existing regulations on tackling air pollution. Take the
case of industries and power plants in and around Delhi, the biggest
source of hazardous nitrogen and sulphur oxides that cause respiratory
ailments such as airway inflammation, bronchoconstriction and asthma. A
study conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, showed
that power plants, industrial clusters, restaurants and diesel
generators account for almost 98% of sulphur oxides and 60% of nitrogen
oxides in Delhi’s air. These pollutants are released by 20 big
industries and 25 industrial sectors in Delhi and 13 thermal power
plants within 300 km of Delhi. Many of these industrial units use low
quality fuel, including furnace oil, illegally. While the ministry has
banned the use of oil with over 500 parts per million of sulphur content
in the city, it has not put into place a mechanism to check whether the
industry is adhering to the norm or not.
In 2015, the environment ministry formulated new standards to cap the
emissions of sulphur and nitrogen oxides by thermal power plants. But,
as Scroll.in reported last month, the standards have not been imposed on
all 16 thermal power plants that started operations this year. The
ministry has also prepared a roadmap for another existing 300 thermal
plants to dodge the December 2017 deadline for meeting the standards.
For many of the 60 power plants in North India, it plans to extend the
deadline till 2023.
“Had the standards been implemented on time, Delhi’s air would have been
different today,” said Nandikesh Sivalingam of Greenpeace India, which
has taken the environment ministry to the National Green Tribunal for
not enforcing the 2015 air pollution rules for thermal power plants.
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https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/11/11/new-delhis-gas-chamber-smog-is-so-bad-that-united-airlines-has-stopped-flying-there.html
New Delhi’s ‘gas chamber’ smog is so bad that United Airlines has
stopped flying there
More than 6,000 schools in India close after air quality reaches levels
10 times worse than reigning pollution champion Beijing.
By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.The Washington Post
Vidhi Doshi
Sat., Nov. 11, 2017
NEW DELHI—Citing toxic smog that one official said has turned India’s
capital city into a “gas chamber,” United Airlines has cancelled flights
to New Delhi until the air gets better.
At least in United’s eyes, the Indian capital’s smog concerns are on par
with environmental disasters such as hurricanes and volcanoes — a risk
to be avoided. The company said it was letting passengers switch flights
without charge or helping them find seats on other carriers.
It was unclear if other airlines would follow suit. Virgin Atlantic, KLM
and Etihad Airways all compete for business to New Delhi, according to
CNN Money.
An advisory on United’s website said travel to New Delhi was suspended
through at least Tuesday.
“United has temporarily suspended our Newark-Delhi flights due to poor
air quality concerns in Delhi and currently has waiver policies in place
for customers who are travelling to, from or through Delhi,” the company
said in an email.
“We are monitoring advisories as the region remains under a public
health emergency, and are co-ordinating with respective government
agencies.”
New Delhi’s air quality is consistently ranked among the world’s worst.
But a perfect storm of problems is exacerbating the problem to
potentially deadly levels. Farmers who’ve recently harvested crops in
neighbouring states are illegally burning their fields, sending smoke
into the air. Construction projects and pollution from vehicles in a
city that lacks adequate public transportation are making things worse.
This week, the smog was 10 times worse than reigning pollution champion
Beijing, whose air-quality problems reached Olympic proportions. Some
parts of New Delhi have pollution 40 times the World Health
Organization-recommended safe level.
More than 6,000 schools have been ordered closed and only trucks
carrying essential supplies are allowed into the city. Construction
projects have been halted. And the nation was mulling a plan to spray
water over its capital to combat the toxic smog.
Still, photos show the city enveloped in a grey haze. Residents braving
the streets looked like surgeons or carpenters, depending on which type
of mask they were able to acquire.
People huddled indoors with expensive air purifiers, indoor plants and
closed windows.
But doctors say it won’t be enough to prevent some deaths in the city of
20 million people. Children are the most vulnerable.
In a less-affluent quarter of the city, Baburam Durbedy’s grandson
hasn’t been eating. “His temperature is up and he keeps getting out of
breath,” Durbedy said. He wiped his own irritated eyes as he spoke.
Durbedy earns just enough to survive, working as a security guard in the
city. Buying high-end air purifiers is not an option, nor is expensive
medical care. The family of five has two thin gas masks to share. “We
just rub Vicks on his chest,” he said, referring to the medicated vapour
rub.
A recent study linked 2.5 million deaths in India in 2015 to pollution.
This week, worried parents carried coughing children into hospitals
around the city.
“We’ve seen around a 30 to 35 per cent increase of patients in the past
couple of days,” said Anupam Sibal, group medical director and senior
pediatrician at Apollo Hospitals. “It wasn’t like this five years ago.
Children with respiratory problems are finding their issues are
exacerbated. It affects everyone.”
