Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa has accused Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP – in power before the BJP won the February election – of allowing more than 1.08 lakh vehicles to run on city roads despite each emitting carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) beyond permissible limits.
Mr Sirsa also accused Mr Kejriwal and his AAP of corruption related to tenders for purchase of public (CNG) buses and the installation of ‘anti-smog towers’, claiming a sum greater than Rs 87 lakh had been “wasted”. He also claimed Rs 22 crore had been spent on a ‘missing’ smog tower.
These, and other lapses in pollution control mechanisms, led to the annual deterioration of air quality in Delhi, Mr Sirsa declared, speaking after a Comptroller & Auditor-General report – that audited the AAP’s battle against air pollution – was tabled by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
The AAP has not yet responded to these charges.
The CAG report highlighted failures of the AAP government in controlling vehicular emission, such as not keeping data about the type and number of vehicles plying on Delhi roads and assessment of emission loads. It also flagged a shortage of buses and other options that would allow commuters to overcome last-mile connectivity issues and use public transport.
Mr Sirsa later told reporters the Delhi government at the time had been told of the need for 11,000 buses but, instead, fleet size was reduced by more than 20 per cent.
The CAG report also red-flagged irregularities in the issue of PUC (pollution under control) certificates for vehicles, unreliable air quality monitors, and poor enforcement of the law.
On the PUC issue, the report said in many cases, multiple vehicles were issued certificates from the same testing centre at the same time, sometimes within a minute of each other.
This should not be possible since each pollution test can take several minutes.
It was also pointed out that between 2015 and 2020, nearly 4,000 diesel vehicles were found to have exceeded emission norms but were still certified as ‘compliant’, allowing them to be used.
The Delhi government at the time, the CAG report further said, also lacked data about the number, type, and emission loads of vehicles on city roads, which meant it could not come up with source-specific plans to tackle what is an annual and dangerous air quality crisis.
Vehicular emissions are “major contributors” to the air pollution crisis, the CAG report said, noting also the lack of data about benzene levels, or means to reduce these, at fuel stations.
The report also pointed to a number of other concerns, including the failure of the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to record data for as many as 16 hours a day, including of lead in the air and real-time information about sources of pollutants, leading to skewed final analysis.
There is “a pressing need” for the Delhi government to now take “comprehensive steps to address gaps in air quality monitoring and vehicular emission control measures”, the CAG said.
The CAG report is one of 14 the new BJP government has said will be tabled in the Delhi Assembly as part of an ‘audit’ of the previous administration. Eight, including a report on the liquor excise policy scam that roiled the AAP before the February election, have been tabled.
The BJP returned to power in Delhi in style, winning 48 of the city’s 70 Assembly seats in the election. The AAP, which had won over 60 in each of the past two polls, was left with 22.
Mr Kejriwal, the AAP’s supreme leader, and his right-hand man, Manish Sisodia, both of whom had been jailed in connection with the liquor policy scam, both lost their seats.
