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If you are a resident of Delhi and the National Capital Region, you can blame yourself for the mess you are in. For it is not stubble fires in the capital’s neighbour states that make your city a gas chamber but your own vehicular traffic pollution, as per a new study.
Vehicles are the largest polluters in Delhi, according to the study that was released on November 6, 2024, by Delhi-based think tank, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
This is surprising for a number of reasons. Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) has adopted the largest-ever CNG programme for public and local commercial transport. It has phased out 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles.
It has also put restrictions on the entry of non-destined trucks, implemented Bharat Stage VI emissions standards and started the electrification of its fleet of buses.
The CSE study cited studies by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, The Energy Research Institute and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology-SAFAR. All these show vehicles to be the primary polluters in Delhi-NCR.
Vehicles contributed around 40 per cent of PM2.5 emissions and a staggering 81 per cent of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in Delhi-NCR, as per these studies.
The analysis cited figures to show that Delhi is drowning in its own vehicles, which are spewing toxic fumes into the air.
The metropolis has seen a 15.6 per cent annual growth rate in vehicles, most of them two-wheelers and cars. Over 1,100 two-wheelers and 500 private cars are registered in the city daily.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s public transport system falls way short of meeting the demands of the metropolis’ commuters. There are just 45 buses per 100,000 residents, far below the benchmark of 60. All this makes public transport a less attractive option for commuters and makes them purchase more private vehicles, thus perpetuating the pollution in Delhi.