Air today, widen plan for tomorrow

Winter is coming. And Delhi's air is too serious a problem to be dealt with only after the smog arrives. So, Delhi government's decision to announce pollution-control measures well ahead of winter is welcome. Doubling parking charges, staggering office timings, requiring 50% WFH and, more significantly, restricting construction and demolition from November before imposing a complete ban in December signal that prevention is finally being treated as a cure.

Shift in emphasis is welcome, too. Instead of the annual fixation on stubble-burning, focus is now also on vehicles and construction - sources of pollution that can be directly acted on. Farm fires do contribute to the problem. But persistence of Delhi's toxic air demands a much broader approach. CAQM's expert assessment points to multiple contributors, including transport, biomass burning, dust, industry and secondary particulates, as well as pollution moving across the wider airshed. But two questions remain. One, what happens on Diwali? Delhi has a ban on the sale and use of firecrackers. But enforcement has been weak. Last year, celebration - and pollution associated with it - stretched beyond a single evening. If early action is the new approach, enforcement around Diwali needs to begin early, too. A light-handed response won't do, even if pollution numbers happen to look better by then because of the other measures. Two, why not a much larger airshed-focused plan from GoI? Vehicles, industry, construction, dust, biomass burning and weather systems operate across NCR and beyond. CAQM provides the institutional framework for a regional response.

Delhi can, and must, clean up its own backyard. But winter air cannot be fixed by one government, or city. A wider plan is indispensable.