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Potholes in Delhi - DNA

Proposed ban on non-CNG private vehicles will bring Delhi and suburbs to standstill, say residents

According to Delhi residents, the proposed ban on non-CNG private vehicles is not feasible given the lack of public transport options and poor last-mile connectivity from Metro stations.

Delhi residents and commuters from the National Captial Region are worried by the proposal to ban non-CNG vehicles as an emergency measure to check pollution levels. Calling the proposal “impractical” and “non-feasible”, they said if implemented, it would bring the national capital and its suburbs to a standstill.

The SC-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has proposed a complete ban on non-CNG private vehicles in the wake of deteriorating air quality in the region.

According to residents, the proposed ban is not feasible given the lack of public transport options and poor last-mile connectivity from Metro stations.

B S Vohra, president, Federation of east Delhi RWAs, said the city would come to a standstill if all non-CNG vehicles are banned.

“How will people commute to work when buses are fewer than needed and the Delhi Metro is already overcrowded? It is best that the government declares a state holiday if such a measure is imposed and it has to be successful,” Vohra said.

Also, commuters said during winter, the streets are mostly deserted in the evenings and, hence, it is unsafe for women who work late hours.

Isha Malhotra, who travels from Greater Noida to Delhi every day for work, said she has odd working hours and is dependent on her vehicle to return home.

with thanks: HT: Link

Polluted Delhi getting more polluted

Diwali Pollution - HT

Diwali Pollution - TOI

Ban on crackers may not save Delhi, bursting them certainly kills it faster

Delhi’s deteriorating air quality was the reason that the Supreme Court banned the sale and use of conventional firecrackers in the National Capital Region this year. However, a few hours into the celebration, the ban went up in smoke.

Bending rules is the rule of the game for most Delhi residents. This Diwali, they demonstrated that they could even turn suicidal in that pursuit.

This year, the Supreme Court banned the sale and use of conventional firecrackers in the National Capital Region for a good reason. Fuelled by gunpowder, firecrackers are the worst possible cocktail of toxins. Since Delhi’s deteriorating air quality was already making headlines and trending on social media, one imagined that for once, citizens of Delhi would see sense in not poisoning the foul air further in their already choking city this Diwali.

However, a few hours into the celebration, the ban went up in smoke. Most people across the city, overcome by a strange self-destructive urge, found various ways to procure firecrackers illegally and burst them with abandon. Some people even wore pollution masks while bursting crackers, for good measure. Unsurprisingly, pollution levels on Diwali night were worse than last year’s. Delhi has since been draped in unrelenting smog.

For a long time, many of us have played down health risks by justifying Diwali as a once-a-year celebration. But toxic fumes from the city’s massive fleet of private vehicles, unchecked garbage burning, dust from construction sites and stubble burning in neighbouring states are already filling up our lungs. Diwali firecrackers could well be the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Multiple studies have shown that foul air is compromising the lung capacity of children in Delhi. The latest one, released by the World Health Organisation last month and well publicised by the media, stated that in 2016, India recorded the highest number of air pollution-induced deaths of children below five years. Yet, on Diwali night, many people burst crackers because their “children liked them”.

It is easy to blame enforcement agencies. However, Delhi Police did arrest as many as 310 persons for bursting crackers on the Diwali night. However, why do we need the police to stop us from damaging our lungs?

The argument that bursting firecrackers on the Diwali night is a tradition we must continue does not cut much ice. In fact, Diwali has traditionally been the festival of light. Fireworks, in any case, are a borrowed fad we seemed to have rapidly internalised. Gunpowder and fireworks were invented in China more than a thousand years ago. The Chinese believe that the loud sound from firecrackers drives away evil spirits, and burning them during the Lunar New Year is an age-old Chinese tradition. But that has not come in the way of even the proud inventor restricting their use to fight air pollution.

Unlike India, where such decisions have been left to the judiciary, it is the government that has banned fireworks in more than 400 Chinese cities and towns. Last December, the Beijing legislature prohibited fireworks within the fifth ring road and allowed them to be lit only in designated suburbs and at specific times.

“The low-key celebrations (during the Lunar New Year) were in stark contrast to previous years when the streets were crammed with Beijingers setting off firecrackers and the sky was lit by near-constant firework displays, unleashing a deafening thunder until dawn”, the PTI reported from the Chinese capital in February this year.

A ban on fireworks is not easy on local businesses. In China, the largest manufacturer of fireworks in the world, a ban on crackers has forced many factories to shut shop. In India, however, government scientists have prepared prototypes for green crackers, which promise up to 40% reduction in emission. After getting the mandatory license from the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation, the technology should be available to manufacturers for large-scale production.

The switch is not going to be easy. Barring a few big manufacturers, much of the fireworks industry in India is small-scale. Technology transfers, investment in new types of raw material and equipment, training workers as well as monitoring staff will be a big challenge. To clear their inventories, sellers will continue to push old stocks in the market, perhaps even next Diwali.

In the end though, it is the demand that will push production. Unless citizens themselves commit to a cleaner, healthier Diwali, no ban on crackers or switching over to greener versions will ever be successful. Foregoing fireworks on Diwali and other occasions will not end Delhi’s air pollution. But bursting them will invariably make it much worse, every time. Delhi has to have a stubborn death wish to risk it for a lark.

with thanks: Shivani Singh - HT

Festival of Lights or the Festival of Pollution ?

Can you believe that Delhi was in the Grip of the most severe pollution last night? The levels were so high that it was difficult to breathe for all those having any respiratory issues or other medical problems. It was an acute stage of the Medical emergency all over. I know you won't believe it. So why don't you have a look at the screenshots captured by me last night?

Have you ever thought, ever heard about the Pollution levels of up to 77 times of the permissible limits? This was what we had to bear last night in the city which is the National Capital. It was Scary. It was horrible. It was the most polluted all over the City. The levels of pollution were fluctuating and touching the higher peaks every second minute in almost every part of Delhi.

We just kept on Tweeting to our Elected representatives, warning them of the consequences that may come out of such high polluting levels in the City. But there was no option for anyone of us as the entire city was celebrating the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS - known as DIWALI. It's a great festival - A festival of Lights, Sweets, Gifts, but don't know how it got attached with the crackers and has now turned into the FESTIVAL OF POLLUTION by our own actions.

Since morning I have asked it from all the Air Quality Experts, that include Ms. Sunita Narain, Ms. Anumita Roy Choudhury, Dr. Gufran Beig, that is it possible for the humans to breathe at the pollution levels of up to 77 times of the permissible limits? If one has no option but to breathe in such extreme conditions, what will happen to the human lungs? How long an individual can survive in such difficult conditions? What will happen to the vegetation as well as the Birds & animals on the streets as well as the pets inside? Still awaiting the reply.

B S Vohra

Environment Activist, President,

East Delhi RWAs Joint Front - Federation

www.RWABhagidari.com

www.RWABhagidari.blogspot.com

Happy Diwali

Happy Diwali 

from the entire team of 

RWA BHAGIDARI

& 

EAST DELHI RWAs JOINT FRONT - FEDERATION

Signature Bridge - yet another Land Mark of Delhi

The  675-meter Signature Bridge has been inaugurated today. The beauty of the bridge will make it a yet another landmark of Delhi. The bridge boasts of 127 strands of back-stay cables, spherical bearings of 17,300-tonne vertical capacity, pendulum bearing to resist uplift of 6,300 tonnes, and transportation and handling of 460-tonne pylon base segment and is being projected as India’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge, with the gesture ‘namaste’ - HT says.