The Supreme Court has banned the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region (NCR) till November 1 to assess the impact on air quality and curb pollution. This means that firecrackers won’t be legally sold in Delhi and its surrounding areas during and after Diwali. The apex court’s decision is well-intentioned but hardly implementable. Given the popularity of bursting firecrackers on Diwali, people will find ways to obtain them. True, air pollution levels had dangerously spiked after Diwali last year and SC had imposed a ban on sale of firecrackers last November – the apex court has reinstated that order now. However, what’s needed are advocacy and long-term solutions to NCR’s air pollution problem.

In fact, the two largest sources of PM 2.5 pollution in Delhi are road dust (38%) and vehicles (20%). Plans to tackle these have not proved effective. To control dust pollution, SC had previously directed the repairing and building of pavements and vacuuming of roads. Despite this Delhi’s three municipal corporations together have just 19 mechanised sweeping machines. Similarly, to boost public transport and reduce the number of new cars in the capital, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) needs new buses. But only 1,000 buses for DTC were cleared for procurement last month as against the demand for around 4,700.

Then there is the annual problem of crop stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana and UP. With no economically viable solutions worked out for removing paddy residue, fines have failed to deter farmers from taking to burning. In the same vein, trucks not destined for Delhi continue to transit through the capital due to lack of alternative routes. Hence, imposing bans and fines won’t improve NCR’s air quality – concomitant incentives to alter behaviour also need to be worked out. The need is for holistic solutions that address the root causes of the problem.