ENVIRONMENT: CLEAN DELHI

Green And Bear It

Delhi wakes up to the CNG era but the Government's complacency leads to a bumpy ride

By Supriya Bezbaruah and Sayantan Chakravarty

It was a classic case of how good intentions can go terribly wrong. On April 1, 2001, the nation's capital was to usher in a new green era. But Delhi's 10 million citizens saw red instead as its public transport system ground to a halt. Last week, the city became a commuter's nightmare when two-thirds of the buses were kept off the streets. The city's buses had not complied with a two-year old Supreme Court ruling that they run on the less-polluting compressed natural gas (CNG) instead of diesel. If that wasn't bad, lack of sufficient quantities of the fuel kept a third of the autorickshaws, also legally committed to CNG, out of action. Said a harassed Charu Mehta, a law student who had to forego college: "While I support the drive for clean air, the way they are going about it has upset everyone. It doesn't seem practical."

As Delhi was thrown into chaos, angry protesters burnt eight buses. The apex court relented and allowed a conditional extension of the deadline for all public transport to convert to CNG fuel by September 30. For a beleaguered state Government, clearly at fault for dragging its feet over implementation, the court's order was only a breather. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit admitted the Government may not be able to meet the schedules by September. The state showed signs of turning defiant, even questioning the rationale of the court imposing such a stringent order. The scene was set for an unprecedented confrontation between the Supreme Court and the Delhi Government, ironically over what should have been a laudable measure.

So why have things come to such a sorry pass? There is little doubt that Delhi needed drastic measures to clean up its act. Two years ago, Delhi led the country in air pollution and had the dubious distinction of being one of the world's most polluted cities. The health impact was enormous. In 1995 a World Bank study showed India lost up to $2 billion a year due to pollution-linked health problems-most commonly respiratory. Around that time, concerned citizens spearheaded by famed lawyer-turned-activist M.C. Mehta filed a petition in the apex court to get Delhi to take measures to bring down pollution. Normally such a petition would have taken years. But acting with surprising, and welcome, speed the Supreme Court came out with a series of green rulings-moving polluting industrial units out of the city, use of unleaded and low sulphur fuel-that made a visible difference. The court then moved on the transport vehicles and on July 28 1998, ruled that all city buses (around 15,000, including Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses and private ones) should be CNG-run by March 31, 2001.