Is banning construction in Delhi a good idea to reduce Pollution?

Delhi,  The capital of India, have from the times immemorial faced huge problems,  be it violence against women,  murders,  illegal immigration, corruption, etc.

And this time its pollution.  Delhi already was among the top most polluted cities in world, and now the pollution has crossed all the past records. You will find masked people everywhere on the streets.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) has crossed the hazardous mark of 500+. The level of particulate matter PM10 on Sunday reached at 1690 umg/m3 at 8 am in Anand Vihar and 1,300 umg/m3 at 6 pm in central government employees’ residential colony RK Puram. It’s multiple times higher than the permissible limits (50-100).

“The air pollution level in Delhi has reached a stage where people should evacuate the city. The AQI has crossed the hazardous level of 500 and now touching almost 1,000. It’s unimaginable,” said Ravi Agarwal, director, Toxics Link, an environmental NGO.

According to some,  the cause of pollution in Delhi includes the pollutants from Haryana,  Punjab and Rajasthan. These pollutants cause about 20-30% of total pollution.  The remaining is the result of no cleanliness,  construction works,  industrial pollutants.

Delhi government had already started the controlling of vehicular movement but the result was negligible. The odd-even formula which we thought would reduce some amount of pollution has in fact done nothing. The government has given 3 days holiday to schools and has recommended to ban construction work for 5 days. While this may reduce pollution for some time but is it a long term solution, if not, then what else can government do and can center and state work together? Can pollutants from Punjab be stopped keeping in mind the Punjab Assembly election next year?

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