NO BEIJING MODEL FOR DELHI

DELHI FACES CHALLENGES BEIJING NEVER HAD TO CONFRONT. THE MOST PROMINENT IS STUBBLE BURNING

- 

There is a Hindi idiom chutki lena - that loosely translates as teasing, trolling, mocking or putting someone down.

Social media today is full of people taking chutki over air pollution in Delhi. The recent tweet by Chinese Embassy spokesperson, offering “stepby step guide" on how Beijing tackled air pollution, falls into this category. It is unsolicited, overly generic and not helpful — regardless that the Chinese capital recently suffered a rare smog (AQI of 214) after years of pollution cleanup efforts.

Researchers in India, including myself, have followed Beijing's air quality journey closely for years. We have studied the "Beijing model," examined its successes and understood its limitations. One must first recognise a basic reality about information coming out of China: it is tightly controlled and never complete. While general descriptions of actions taken and headline pollution reductions are widely available, crucial information is missing.

Data on regulatory enforcement, economic costs, public expenditure, private sector liabilities, worker displacement, compensation and social costs are largely absent. Without this information, simply lifting the Beijing model and superimposing it on Delhi is neither feasible nor responsible.

That said there is no denying Beijing has achieved remarkable improvements in air quality in a relatively short period. India can -and should -learn from their experience. But learning does not mean copying.