Too many chinks in Delhi pollution fight: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) report on Delhi's air pollution exposed severe lapses in the city's efforts to mitigate vehicular pollution, highlighting a lack of data on the number of vehicles and their emissions, delays in public transport expansion plans and improper placement of air quality monitors, according to officials familiar with the findings of the agency.

- Sanjeev K Jha, Snehil Sinha, Jasjeev Gandhiok

Public transport augmentation Another critical issue raised in the audit was the failure to expand public transport. Despite a growing population and worsening congestion, Delhi's bus fleet has remained stagnant for years, it allegedly found. The city had only 6,750 buses - both Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster - available in March 2021, against a required 11,000. Shockingly, no new buses were added between 2011 and 2021, even as the number of two-wheelers surged from 4.3 million in 2011 to 8.1 million in 2021. The total number of registered vehicles increased from 6.9 million to 13 million over the same period.

It found that Delhi's transport network was struggling to meet demand. Of the 657 notified bus routes, 238-36% of the total - were not covered at all due to the bus shortage. Additionally, last-mile connectivity remained a persistent problem. While the population grew by 17% between 2011 and 2021, the number of registered Gramin Sewa vehicles, a key mode of last-mile transport, remained stuck at 6,153. These vehicles were also over a decade old, raising concerns about their fuel efficiency and emissions.

The report noted that despite these deficiencies, the Delhi government failed to implement alternative transport solutions such as Monorail, Light Rail Transit, or Electronic Trolley Buses. Although budget provisions had been made for these projects for the past seven years, no concrete steps were taken to execute them.