Air pollution hurts growth: It is time to try new ideas

It astonishes sympathetic global observers that India, with its wealth of public policy experts, should be so inept at handling a major threat to the health and productivity of its population, afflicting not just Delhi, but the entire northern belt of the country in the concluding months of every calendar year.

- INDIRA RAJARAMAN

In mid-November, Delhi achieved the distinction of being the world's most polluted city by Swiss agency IQAir's live rankings. Delhi had the top rank among polluted capital cities in the IQAir annual report for 2023.

If this is going to be an unsolvably predictable annual event, instead of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) responding behind the curve to close down construction sites and educational institutions and bar entry of trucks into the city, there should be a pre-announced construction shutdown at this time of year and a consolidated school vacation in November-December instead of separate holidays in summer and winter.

But the problem cannot be allowed to recur year after year as an outcome of political wrangling. Ajay Shankar, formerly in the power ministry in senior capacities, has presented a feasible plan for the farm fires problem, calling for payments to farmers for uprooting stubble, which can then be pelletized for use as fuel in power plants (Hindustan Times, 5 November 2024). The fiscal cost would be far less than the cost in terms of growth and fiscal revenues of continuing to limp along as we presently do.