CIVIL SOCIETY AND GOVERNANCE
Case Study on
Right to Clean Air Campaign
Sanjiv Pandita
SOCIETY FOR PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH IN ASIA (PRIA)
42 Tuglakabad Institutional Area, N. Delhi- 110062(India)
1
INTRODUCTION
“We want clean air to breathe”,
“We don’t want our children to carry oxygen cylinders along with their school
bags”
“We demand an answer from government for why our lungs are getting clogged”
These voices are echoing in some of the urban centres of India. A case where few
concerned citizens are raising their voice against the ever growing menace of air
pollution- which is subtly eating the lungs of millions of people living across the
country in all the major Indian cities. Clean air - a fundamental right of every
citizen is becoming a privileged commodity.
Liberalisation and growing population has put immense pressure on the natural
resources of the country. The nineties have seen India emerge as a major market
Global products have flooded Indian markets The promotion of economic growth,
however, is not balanced to maintain environmental harmony The governance has
changed a little over the years and continues to be confusing and indecisive over
the issue - doing little apart from enacting laws and legislations, which are hardly
implemented.
India’s environment has reached a critical state. With the predominance of issues
like poverty, population, livelihood, shelter etc., the environment has always been
among the lowest in the priority list in this country. There has been no clear policy
on environment and all the environment legislations in the country have been
enacted in response to some external stimulus (for instance, the Stockholm
Conference and Rio Conference) or internal disasters (the Bhopal Gas Disaster is
such an event). Consequently, the rivers are turning into large sewers; soil and
ground water pollution has reached to an alarming state. Quality of air in all major
Indian cities is very bad and the concentration of all the major air pollutants is
much above the prescribed WHO standards. Delhi, in particular, is among the top
three most polluted cities in the world.
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Background
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a non-profit voluntary organisation,
based in Delhi and working on issues related to environment. CSE has been
actively been involved in issues related to environment and has taken a lead role in
bringing up the issues like air pollution, water pollution, sustainable development
etc. For the past many years, CSE has launched many campaigns against the
environmental pollution. “Right to Clean Air Campaign” is one among those. CSE
has played a lead role in highlighting the deteriorating air quality in major Indian
cities. They have been instrumental in information dissemination, decision making
in air quality management, awareness building, and policy advocacy and
mobilising the public support.
The Campaign
The campaign started with the release of the book “Slow murder- the Deadly Story
of Vehicular Pollution in India” on November 1, 1995 by CSE. The book was a
result of two-year extensive research carried out by researchers at CSE. The
research focused on the vehicular pollution in major Indian cities and the
environmental health consequences arising out of that. The results were alarming.
The book depicts the deteriorated quality of air in Indian metros. The book also
peeps into the faulty policies of the government as well as failure of the regulatory
bodies, which has led to the present situation.
Why Automobile Pollution?
The CSEs campaign is focused solely on pollution caused by the automobiles. The
reasons are quite simple. At present in any of the major Indian City, it is seen that
automobiles are the major sources of air pollution (up to 70%). The pollutants in
the urban air come from the following main sources:
 emissions from various industries;
 emissions from vehicles; and,
 emissions from household sources;
The energy market changed in 1960s and 1970s, the use of kerosene and L.P.G
spread through the domestic urban kitchens, and by 1980 the emissions from
household sources were negligible compared to other two sources.
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Major Pollutants in the Vehicular Exhaust and their Health Hazards
Motor vehicle exhaust is a complex mixture, the composition of which depends on
the fuel, type, and the operating condition of the engine and the use of any
emission control device. Pollutants and their derivatives can cause adverse health
effects by interacting with and impairing molecules crucial to the biochemical or
the physiological process of the human body. Pollutant effects may vary across the
population groups; in particular, the young and the elderly may be especially
susceptible; persons with asthma or respiratory or cardiac disease may experience
aggravated symptoms upon exposure.
Given below are the major pollutants present in the vehicular exhaust and their
effect on the human health:
1. Carbon Monoxide (CO): - This gas is produced when air and fuel combust in
the engine of cars, two-wheelers, and three wheelers. Carbon monoxide is
rapidly absorbed in the lungs and is taken up in the blood. The haemoglobin in
the blood normally gets attached to the oxygen and is responsible for
transferring oxygen from the lungs to the different parts of the body.
Haemoglobin has increased affinity for carbon monoxide and forms a complex
with it called carboxyhaemoglobin. This reduces the oxygen carrying capacity
of the blood, which would cause dizziness, headache and a strain on the heart.
2. Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx): - It is formed during combustion, they emerge
from exhaust as nitric oxide (NO) and in the atmosphere gradually convert into
nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Nitrogen dioxide is an irritating gas that is absorbed
into the lining of the respiratory tract. The health hazards caused by nitrogen
dioxide range from inflammation in the upper respiratory tract to bronchitis.
3. Oxides of Sulphur (SOx): - Vehicular exhaust contains sulphur monoxide,
which oxidises in the atmosphere to sulphur dioxide (SO2). It is emitted mostly
by the diesel driven vehicles. This is also an irritating gas and can cause
various respiratory ailments.
4. Lead: - Lead additives in fuel accounts for 80-90 per cent of lead in the
atmosphere. Lead affects the nervous system and also the heme synthesis (main
ingredient of haemoglobin). Infants and young children less than five years old
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are particularly sensitive to the lead exposure because of its potential effect on
the neurological development.
5. Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM): - These are the tiny particles in the
diesel exhaust. The particles, which are of the size of less than 10 microns are
directly respirable i.e. they, are not stopped by the defensive lining of the upper
respiratory tract. These particles reach directly to the blood and if they contain
toxic particles like lead then they are a great threat to health.
6. Benzene: - Benzene is the constituent of the crude oil. It is used as an additive
in replacement of lead in the unleaded fuel. Its toxic effects include damage to
central nervous system, haematological and immunological disorders. High
levels cause inflammation of the respiratory tract and haemorrhage of lungs.
Benzene is also known as a human carcinogen (cancer causing agent) and may
cause lung cancer and leukaemia. There is no safe level for air borne benzene.
7. Ploycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH): - These come from incomplete
fuel combustion. Diesel exhaust contains high volume of particulate bearing
PAHs. PAHs are also considered to be potential carcinogens.
CSE, in its study, has identified the four major culprits responsible for vehicular
pollution1:
 lack of comprehensive set-up to monitor urban air quality to set emission
standards;
 outdated vehicle technology arising from vehicle manufacturers unwillingness
to keep abreast of clean technologies and their successful attempts at getting
away with as little design upgradation as they can;
 poor fuel quality produced by the public sector refineries that can do as they
please because they set their own quality standards;
 poor vehicle maintenance by indifferent consumers and an economic structure
that keeps vehicles on road after they should have been junked; and poor traffic
planing that fails to quantify the oncoming crisis and take corrective steps,
including discouraging the current suicidal rate of growth of privately-owned
motorised vehicles.
Centre for Science and Environment (1996) “Slow Murder - The deadly story of vehicular pollution in
India”; pg. 45.
1
5
I. Lax Emission Standards: - The government is not setting absolute targets for
air quality and appropriating responsibilities to the concerned players involved
to achieve those targets accordingly. Government is resorting only to
approximation and takes into account what industry considers as technically
feasible to achieve a certain emission level. This gives considerable leeway to
the industry to manipulate and to keep the standards low.
II. Outdated Technology: - The report uncovers the reluctance of the automobile
industry to respond technologically to changes that have to be made in order to
meet stringent emission control standards. The Indian industry has consistently
lobbied for dilution, pleading inexpertise. This is evident in the official
notification of the 1996 norms, a diluted version of the recommendations made
earlier by the expert committee. Baring a very small segment of new vehicles
the rest are still using the age-old carburettor technology. The study
particularly, blames two-stroke two wheelers and three wheelers for causing
maximum pollution on the city roads. These account for 65 percent of the
vehicle population, 60 percent of the gasoline consumption and 70 percent of
the HC (hydrocarbon) emissions in India. Industry has been held responsible
for not being proactive enough to upgrade technology to produce more
emission efficient vehicles.
III. Poor Fuel Quality: - The report states that the Petroleum industry has not
made necessary investment to improve the refining technology to improve the
fuel quality. Since the petroleum industry is owned by the government, it is a
case of government issuing standards for government with nobody to watch.
Standards for fuel with respect to environmental parameters - lower benzene
and sulphur levels will come into effect only in year 2000. Industry meanwhile
is resorting to devious ways of maximising subsidised diesel production by
taking a wider-cut (extracting heavier fraction of the distillates) and through
secondary distillation process (cracking bottom of the line distillates), which
has led to the high levels of the carbon and sulphur in the fuel. Refining
technology is obsolete and ill suited to process the high-sulphur crude
purchased cheap in the market.
IV. Non Existent Traffic Planning: - The study also analyses how lack of
transport and traffic planning contribute to pollution and highlights the
importance of high capacity and low emission public transport system,
promotion of non motorised transport and comprehensive transport planning to
reduce dependence on personal vehicles and reduce emissions.
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V. Maintenance of in-use Vehicles: - Though maintenance and inspection of the
in-use vehicles can help to reduce the emissions to an extent, the report
condemns the government propaganda to hold in-use vehicles primarily
responsible for pollution as misleading. The hype over periodic drive to test tail
pipe emissions is cosmetic and focuses public attention only to the tail pipe end
of the problem, diverting the larger issues involved.
Irresponsible Governance
CSE, in its study, has attributed the present state (of air pollution) to the inefficient
functioning of the government. CSE has been campaigning for more transparency
and information sharing. CSE has identified following essential players
responsible for the growing menace of air pollution in the country.
1. Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF): - MOEF has set no targets
for cleaning the air. There is no time-bound concrete plan for the reduction of
the air pollution.
2. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas: - The ministry is responsible for
allowing the production of dirty fuel. It has also maintained monopoly over the
production of such fuel and there is no one to question it.
Table 1 Groups Responsible for Vehicular pollution
Problem
Regulatory
Interest Group
Bad
automobile Ministry of Environment and
Automobile Industry
technology
Forests
Ministry of Industry
Ministry of Surface Transport
Poor Fuel Quality
Ministry of Petroleum
State Owned
Refineries
Bad Traffic Planning
State/metropolitan transport
authorities
Poor fleet maintenance
State/metropolitan traffic police Disinterested public
Ageing vehicular fleet
State/metropolitan traffic police Public (resistance to
phasing out old
vehicles)
Source: Centre for Science and Environment
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1. Ministry of Surface Transport: - The ministry does not share any data it
collects with the public. There is no pollution data available about the new
vehicles booming into market. There are no plans to deal with the growing
urban transport crisis.
2. Ministry of Industries: - It pays no attention to the polluting industries.
3. Ministry of Finance: - It keeps itself away from the problem. No hard steps
are taken to fine or tax the polluting Industries.
4. Ministry of Health: - It is totally silent on the health hazards of air pollution.
No studies have been directed to see the effects of air pollution on health of
citizens.
7. Automobile Industry: - In the name of mobility, the industry has been
responsible for producing polluting vehicles.
8. Pollution Control Boards: - These are the toothless bodies who have been
unable to control the pollution. They have not developed any effective
programme to control pollution.
9. Politicians :- They show no interest and consider other issues more important
Premature Deaths and Illness due to Air Pollution
One of the major findings of the CSE’s study was – the link between air pollution
and human deaths. This was based on the epidemiological model, which was
developed by World Bank staffers Carter Brandon and Kirsten Homman. In 1995,
World Bank assessed the environmental and health conditions in India. According
to the study, air pollution exceeds World Health Organisation (WHO)
recommendations in most of the 23 Indian cities with a population of over one
million. The annual level of total suspended particulate matter in six Indian cities
viz. Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kanpur and Nagpur is at least three
times higher than the WHO standards. In Delhi Calcutta and Kanpur, it is five
times higher than the WHO standards. A sample of air pollution data pertaining to
36 Indian cities was fed into the model. Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)
provided the pollution data. As per the report 40,351 people died of air pollution in
1991-92 (data used in the World Bank study was of 1991-92). CSE used the same
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epidemiological model and fed the latest air pollution data in it (1995 CPCB data).
As per CSE, the death toll had gone up to 51,779.
The death toll in major Indian cities due to air pollution in 1991-92 and 1995 is
given in the table below:
Table 2 Death toll due to air pollution in Indian cities
Year
1991-92
1995
Delhi
7,491
9,859
Mumbai
4,477
7,023
Kanpur
1,849
3,639
Chenni
863
1,291
Calcutta
5,726
10,647
CSE, in its study, using the same epidemiological model also calculated the illness
caused by the air pollution, which required hospitalisation. As per the study, in the
36 Indian cities, the number of cases of sicknesses requiring medical treatment
have risen from 19 million in 1991-92 to 25 million in 1995
Table 3 Illness Caused by Air Pollution
Year
1991-92
1995
Delhi
39.5
60.00
Mumbai
25.5
40.00
Kanpur
8.03
15.4
Chenni
4.5
6.8
Calcutta
29.3
54.5
All figures are in lakhs
Health Cost Due to Air Pollution
The study also focused upon the health costs and the morbidity costs due to air
pollution. In economic terms, this morbidity and mortality costs RS 4,700 crore
annually (1995), taking an average of the upper and the lower estimates. In 199192, the figure stood at about 3,600 crore. This assumption was based upon the
average value of Indian life, which was worked upon by Brandon and Hoffman.
Table 4 Health Cost due to Air Pollution
Nature of Effect
No of Cases
Cost Valuation
(US $ millions)
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Premature Deaths
Hospital Admissions and Sickness
Requiring Medical Treatment
Minor Sickness (including
restricted activity days)
Total
40,351
19,800,000
170-1,615
25-50
1,201,300,000
322-437
-
517-2,102
CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES
CSE is strategically located in Delhi, the capital of India, and much the success to
its campaign can be attributed to its location. It has been successful in roping the
important personalities in the support of its campaign. Media has been used to its
fullest advantage by highlighting the issue. This has been the trademark of CSE.
As already stated CSE launched its campaign with the release of the book “Slow
Murder, The Deadly story of Vehicular Pollution in India” on November 1, 1995.
The book was released by the then Vice President of India, Mr K.R. Narayanan
that gave great start to the campaign.
CSE, to intensify the campaign started interacting with experts to evolve solution
to the problems identified and started bringing together the people who felt
strongly against the polluted air. CSE’s effort also directed at targeting groups and
identifying people who could disseminate the findings of the study.
CSE’s campaign was spearheaded under the leadership of its founder director Mr
Anil Aggarwal, who has achieved a distinction of being among the top most
environmentalists in the country. Mr Aggarwal’s status as one of the reputed name
in the field of environment has provided boost to the campaign. CSE’s study was
directed by Mr Aggarwal. It made things easy for the researchers as they could
access the data easily. His global contacts made it easy for the researchers to get
the inputs from the scientists from different countries and at different positions.
CSE’s strategy has been to use very bold statements about the air pollution and its
related issues, which has attracted public attention and thus given boost to its
campaign.
“Roll down the window of your bullet-proof car, Mr. Prime Minister the security
threat is not the gun. It’s the air of Delhi”
“Rahul Bajaj is the criminal No 1”
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“You line up for tail-pipe test while the real culprits go scot-free”
CSE publishes one fortnightly magazine “Down to Earth” which is a science and
environment magazine. The magazine was an important publicity media for the
campaign. It highlighted the findings of the CSE study and also carried special
supplements related to the campaign. The magazine was instrumental in awareness
generation of the citizens. By this medium, CSE invited the citizens to come
forward and join the campaign. It received an overwhelming response.
One of the important characteristics about the CSE’s campaign has been the
specific group of citizens it has focused upon which involves the middle and the
upper middle class. The lower strata of the society have not been influenced due to
the obvious reasons that for this class of people, other issues predominate and
health hazards due to pollution attain the lowest priority.
Public Meetings
Ever since the launch of the campaign, CSE has been organising public meetings,
which serve as a forum for awareness building, devising strategies to combat
pollution and to access the impact of the campaign. These public meetings are
highly publicised and are attended usually by the top bureaucrats, eminent
scientists, politicians etc.
The first public meeting was held on November 5, 1996, just four days after the
launch of the campaign. The eminent personalities attending the meeting included
then election commissioner Mr T.N. Seshan, editor of Business Standard, Leader
of the opposition in the Delhi assembly and Chairperson of the Central Pollution
Control Board. On same day, an exhibition on the vehicular pollution was also
held in National Museum of History, New Delhi. Mr T.N. Seshan inaugurated it.
The exhibition depicted the nexus between the government and the industry and its
noxious effects on the public. The exhibition depicted the hazards due to
automobile pollution. Some exhibits like a skeleton wearing an anti pollution mask
made it more interesting. The meeting as well as the exhibition got vast media
coverage for many days. CSE’s campaign got a foothold.
The first public meeting was followed by a series of meetings with the people from
various fields - university students, doctors, economists, lawyers, artist’s etc. This
was aimed at to generate awareness as well as to gain mass support from different
sections of the society. The first meeting with university students was held on
December 18, 1996. In the meeting, it was suggested to have a pollution awareness
11
week in the north and south campus of the Delhi University. A protest march to the
residence of the Prime Minister was one of the proposed activity during the
awareness week.
On January 29, 1997, CSE in its effort to mobilise support from the medical
community held a meeting with the doctors in CSE conference hall. The meeting
focused on creating awareness among the doctors and on the urgent need for
comprehensive epidemiological studies. Doctors at the Delhi Medical Association
(DMA) also formed an “Anti Pollution Cell” to monitor the link between the
pollution and health disorders. Indian Medical Association, East Delhi branch,
organised a National Conference on Respiratory Diseases and Air Pollution
Disorders in New Delhi on September 28, 1997. CSE also participated in the
meeting and took part in the panel discussion. CSE also displayed its Slow Murder
Exhibition on the vehicular pollution.
CSE also organised an “Economists’ Meet” at the India International Centre,
New Delhi, on February 7, 1997. The agenda of the meeting was to discuss the
fiscal incentives and disincentives to control the vehicular pollution. The
representatives from the automobile industry and the eminent economists attended
the meeting. The meeting led to the formulation of a policy paper, which was
presented to then Union Minister of Finance, P. Chidambaram.
CSE in its efforts to reach different sections of society organised an “Artists’
Meet” in the CSE conference hall on February 12, 1997. In the meeting it was
agreed upon that the an interactive communication with the general public would
help to carry the message across. Petrol pumps were suggested as one of such
interactive spaces. The other options, which came up during the meeting, were
street plays, paintings, hoarding, cloth banners and posters displayed at the
prominent places. Artists also offered to visually portray the dangers of inhaling
the noxious air. In June, 1997 CSE, in collaboration with Eicher Gallery, a
prominent art gallery in Delhi, again organised a meeting with the artists. Since
then artists have designed logos and rubber stamps for the Right to Clean Air
campaign, to draw public attention to the problem. T-shirts have been designed
with logos such as four masked lions, as well as a smoke-belching vehicle with
the words ‘Plug pollution’.
Media Coverage
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CSE’s campaign has always received a major coverage in both print and electronic
media. This might be attributed to following reasons :
 Good quality research, involving the major scientific institutions, which
holistically analyses the problem of vehicular pollution and also provides the
remedial measures to control it.
 The issue taken up in the campaign concerns everyone who breathes in the
Indian metros. The mortality and the illness figures, calculated by CSE’s study,
have attracted the media attention.
 CSE’s geographical location, which has made easy for it to access the local,
national and international media.
 Involvement of eminent personalities at all parts of its campaign.
 CSE itself publishes books and other campaign pamphlets that are distributed
widely. Its magazine “Down to Earth” is among the leading environmental
newsmagazines in the country.
 CSE has issued press releases and personally interacted with media at every
stage of the campaign, highlighting the major issues
 CSE has its own web-site that gives all the information, position papers and
press releases about the campaign. Through this web-site, CSE invites citizens
to join their campaign.
 A consistently scientific approach and overall realistic yet dynamic handling of
the campaign by CSE under the able guidance of its director has had a positive
effect.
The public meeting held by CSE on November 1, 1997, exactly after one year after
the release of its book “Slow Murder”, was held jointly with the Hindustan Times
Group. Prior to the public meeting CSE had called upon the prominent citizens to
sign a statement of concern demanding - the right to clean air. Eminent artists,
literary personalities, sports-persons like Satish Gujral, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan,
Kapil Dev and several others came forward to express their deep solidarity with
the cause. On the same day, a public advertisement - Dead by Breathing, was
issued by CSE in The Times of India - a National Daily.
Interface With Governance
As discussed earlier in the paper, CSE has identified various functionaries of the
government who are directly or indirectly responsible for the automobile pollution.
In this case the government structures and institutions who are supposed to look
into the problem are present but their functioning is improper. They have a highly
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bureaucratic structure, and lack transparency and accountability. This campaign is
an effort by the civil society organisation to demand accountability from the
government.
The interaction with the government has been of varied nature. CSE studied
carefully the relation between the automobile pollution and the failure on the part
of various regulatory authorities. The next step included highlighting these
irregularities via different media i.e. electronic and print and develop a mass
support against these malfunctions. The attitude of the government, initially, was
defensive. However, when pressure from a certain section of the society was built
and more importantly when judiciary also intervened, government was forced to
react. Even though nothing spectacular happened yet it can be considered as a
major breakthrough for the civil society movement. Sensitising rigid government
structures is not an easy task. This was a step towards demanding more
accountability and transparency. CSE’s interaction has been of accusing and
demanding nature. The reactions from government can be accounted to the
mounting pressure from media and judiciary. The campaign has yet to reach a
stage where civil society has a dialogue with government to reach a common
understanding in resolving the issues.
Resources
CSE is one of the leading civil society organisations in the country. It has excellent
institutional infrastructure. CSE has a good institutional space in Delhi. It has an
excellent library within the institution that has exhaustive collection of books,
documents and other materials related to environment. CSE also has a good
collection of audio-visuals of related subjects. The staff in CSE is highly
professional and qualified. CSE has separate departments handling separate
projects, including the campaigns. People with requisite competencies are
employed in each department
CSE is receiving financial grants from various sources for its activities. CSE also
generates its internal resources by means of its publications. Its “Right to Clean
Air” received financial assistance from various sources which includes the
institutional corpus money. Small amount of money to sustain this campaign also
came from the general public who donated in response to the appeal made by CSE
by various media. CSE is now approaching specific donor agencies so that funds
could be received exclusively for this campaign.
OUTCOME
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CSE’s campaign started showing visible outcome immediately after the release of
the book on November 1, 1996 and subsequent Public meeting which was held on
November 5. The media covered both the events extensively. Following the media
reports on CSE’s Study, the Supreme Court issued a suo moto notice on November
18, 1996 and asked Delhi government to submit an action plan for the control of
pollution. In December 1996, in response to the Supreme Court directive, the
Delhi government, for the first time, presented an action plan to combat air
pollution in Delhi. The direct measures which were to be implemented by 1997
exclusive left lane for heavy vehicles, dedicated bicycle tracks, banning of
shoulder parking on roads, pedestrian zones and de-congestion of traffic. Indirect
measures to be implemented by 2000, included public and mass transport systems,
construction of by passes and elevated express carriageway and improvement in
road/rail systems. Other steps included :
 Pollution under control (PUC) certification facilities increased by 60 per cent .
About 60 PUC test stations for diesel vehicles, enforcement drive by end of
January 1997, 35,000 vehicles checked and 15,000 fined. Involvement of
NGOs and students.
 Surprise checks in petrol pumps for fuel adulteration.
 A propane dispensing station inaugurated.
The proposals included:
 Import of 100-200 buses with very efficient fuel engines and catalytic
converters.
 Popularisation of compressed natural gas (CNG) and propane.
 A multicrore mass transport system, better traffic management, dedicated
cycle paths.
 Sales tax reduction (from 8 to 4 per cent) for two-wheelers that confirm to
standards set for 2000.
 Phasing out vehicles that are more than 15 years old off the road.
15
On November 1, 1997, CSE held a public meeting “Slow Murder and Since”. In
this meeting, the government inaction was criticised. The meeting was attended by
Anil Aggarwal, V. Ramalingasawmi, former director general of the Indian Council
of Medical Research (ICMR), M.G.K Menon former Union minister, R.C.
Bhargava former managing director of Maruti Udyog Ltd., S.K. Chhabra, chest
specialist at the Patel Chest institute and D.K. Biswas, chairperson of CPCB. On
November, 4, 1997, Mr Saifudin Soz, then Union minister for environment and
forests, announced his plans to issue a white paper on pollution in Delhi, which
was finally issued on December 2, 1997. According to the white paper, the relative
contribution of industries and domestic sources in the air pollution load of Delhi
has been steadily declining since 1970, but the contribution of automobile
emissions has increased dramatically. The contribution of industries to the total
pollution load, for instance, has gone down from 56 per cent in 1970-71 to 29 per
cent in 1990-91, and the contribution of domestic sources has declined from 21 per
cent to eight per cent during the same period. But the contribution of vehicles has
increased from 21 per cent in 1970-71 to 64 per cent in 1990-91. The share of
vehicular emissions in the pollution load of Delhi is likely to increase to 72 per
cent by the year 200001.
Soz
also Proposals made by Ministry of Environment and Forests
(MOEF):
formulated an action
 Phased introduction of low-sulphur diesel in Delhi by August
plan, with time bound
1988. Introduction of pre- mixed fuel and oil to cut down
deadlines, to control
two-stroke engine smoke by December 1997. Drive to check
fuel adulteration.
the vehicular pollution
 Ministry of petroleum and natural gas should allow the use of
(See box).
propane as an alternate fuel. Work out the feasibility of using
propane in autorickshaws by December 31, 1997. Use of
ethanol substitution up to 20 per cent
On January, 7, 1998,
Supreme
Court
directed
the
government to set up a
special authority to
control pollution in
Delhi. CSE’s director
Anil Aggarwal was
appointed the member
of the committee.
To implement the following between December 1997 and
December 1998:





Use of pollution control devices
Fuel injection system for two-stroke engines
Replacement of two-stroke engines by four-stroke engines
Engine design modification for use for cleaner fuel
Registration restrictions after September 1,1999, to
discourage old designs

Maintenance and inspection of in-use vehicles:
Supreme Court in the same year also directed the government for introduction of
unleaded petrol for all vehicles and phasing out of old commercial vehicles.
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Conclusion
Gunnar Myrdal, an eminent economist has described the nations of south Asia as
‘soft states’. These countries have governance systems where the stated policy is at
variance with the implemented policy. This statement still holds good for India,
which holds the distinction of being the largest democracy in the world.
Independent India saw the emergence of civil society movement in a big way.
Citizens started questioning the decisions of government ..... Why? ... For whom?.
The ‘Right to Clean Air Campaign’ is one of the example where the civil society
has initiated the dialogue of good governance. It may be an issue of governments
inefficacy to provide clean air to its citizens but there are lot more hidden issues
like transparency in the government systems, involvement of citizens in decision
making and role and influence of market and related actors in shaping the policies
of government.
The campaign initiated by CSE is just three-year-old and it is too less a period to
measure its impact on the governance. However, there have been definitely certain
positive outcomes which are encouraging and inspiring for all civil society
organisations in the country. The response of the government and the judiciary to
the campaign has proved that civil society, in spite of many hurdles, is gaining
recognition in the country. The opinion of the civil society can’t be neglected
anymore.
It has not been, however, a smooth path. For years civil society organisations have
struggled and to attain recognition. CSE has been working for past 18 years and
has at every stage, since its inception, faced opposition from the government and
the stiff bureaucracy. CSE continued to move in spite of the difficulties and
hardships and at present has attained a stage where CSE is a respected name in
conservation of environment and sustainable development. CSE is respected not
only by the other civil society organisations but also by the government and the
conventional educational and research institutions who held the monopoly over the
information and were reluctant to share it.
There are lot of things to be learned from the campaign. CSE inaugurated the
campaign with a explosive news of deaths due to pollution. The issue, being the
concern of every citizen, immediately flooded the media. Judiciary played an
important role in influencing the government and consequently carrying this
campaign forward. Information dissemination also proved to be an important
factor in sustaining this campaign. CSE collected the information from various
government departments like Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Ironically
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the death figure due to pollution, which CSE has calculated, has been arrived using
the pollution data from CPCB who otherwise would never share its data with the
masses.
CSE tried to popularise this campaign by urging politicians to take up the issue of
pollution as one of the major election issues. Even though no major breakthrough
has been achieved in this direction yet a process has been initiated to make
sensitise politicians to take up real issues affecting the people rather than the
conventional issues.
One important lesson that can be drawn from this campaign is the importance of
involving common man is very essential for the sustainability of any campaign. No
doubt, CSE’s campaign has created huge hue and cry in certain sections of the
society and that section has shown resentment and reacted too. The campaign,
however, at no point of time has been able to make the ‘concern of pollution’ as
everybody’s concern. The campaign has failed to address the problem of the
pollution in a holistic manner. The campaign has been harsh on polluting vehicles,
but there are other dynamics involved too. A poor man living in urban cities is not
concerned about the air he breathes, his concern is how to get his daily bread.
Pollution at present is not his priority, on the other hand upper and upper middle
class section of the society realise the importance of clean air but they want a car
to drive too. The balancing act is missing.
To conclude it can be said that, a civil society can not be reduced to a set of NGOs
and a group of individuals. The campaign can be considered as an advocacy
campaign which has targeted upper urban middle class. Right to Clean air has to
go a long way yet to become a “Peoples Campaign’ in a real sense.
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