Question

What initiatives were taken for reducing vehicular air pollution in Delhi? Has air quality improved in Delhi?

Answer 1

The government of Delhi adopted various policies to reduce vehicular air pollution. Recently the Delhi government came out with new rules like odd-even, discontinuation of using old vehicles, encouraging the use of CNG, etc. so that the vehicular air pollution can be controlled.

Complete answer: The Delhi government took several initiatives for reducing vehicular air pollution in Delhi. Some of these initiatives are as follows –
i. Odd-even scheme -
This scheme was introduced by the Delhi government to reduce the number of vehicles running on a single day. The scheme was based on rotating private vehicles in Delhi. The vehicles whose license number ended with an odd number were allowed to run on odd-numbered days, and even number vehicles were allowed to run on even-numbered days. However, two-wheelers, women drivers, ambulances, and school buses, etc. were exempted from following this rule.
ii. Phasing out old vehicle –
Under the national clean air program, the Delhi government banned ten-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles to reduce air pollution.
iii. Promoting the use of CNG vehicles –
CNG vehicles are known to release less amount of particulate matter as compared to other vehicles. Particulate matter is a by-product of combustion. But as an adverse effect, other pollutants are known to be produced more in CNG vehicles. However, the use of CNG vehicles was promoted to reduce the suspended particulate matter in Delhi's air.
Despite implementing the above schemes and various other initiatives by the Delhi government, the air quality of Delhi did not improve significantly as needed for the well-being of its citizens. The air quality index was 228 AQI in 2015. After five years now in 2020, it is 268 AQI which is considered poor and not any improvement.

Note: Other methods that can be used to reduce vehicular air pollution can be the installation of catalytic converters in vehicles. The catalytic converters have costly metals like platinum-palladium and rhodium as components within them. These components act as catalysts. These catalytic converters refine the polluted gas coming out from the automobiles. Also, the use of lead-free petrol and diesel should be encouraged. Vehicles should be maintained from time-to-time to keep their emissions under check and control.